1 LILO - Generic Boot Loader for Linux ("LInux LOader") by Werner Almesberger
2 ===========================================================================
4 NOTE: This document is no longer maintained. However, it is
5 still current. Changes to LILO for versions 21.2 and later are
6 documented in detail in the 'man' pages for 'lilo' and 'lilo.conf'.
7 Refer to them first, then to this document.
10 Version 21-4 (release) -- John Coffman <johninsd@san.rr.com>
12 Minor changes suggested by Werner to show that this release is derived
13 from the source code to his version 21. Added VERSION_MAJOR and
14 VERSION_MINOR to replace VERSION. The file VERSION is replaced by
17 The first and second stage loaders have been modified so that ONLY
18 'lba32' will use EDD packet calls. 'linear' will now always ask the
19 BIOS for the disk geometry, and then use C:H:S addressing.
22 Version 21-2 -- John Coffman <johninsd@san.rr.com>
24 This version was created to allow booting on disks larger than 8.4Gb using
25 the Enhanced BIOS call (int 0x13, AH=0x42) and the packet-call interface.
26 These calls are supported on post-1998 systems, and through software BIOS
27 extensions such as EZ-DRIVE(tm).
29 My primary objective in making these changes to LILO, is not to break any-
30 thing. Hence, the 32-bit direct addressing of sectors is supported by a
31 new keyword in the 'lilo.conf' file: "lba32". This keyword is mutually
32 exclusive with the keyword "linear". On the command line, these options
33 are invoked with the new "-L" switch, or the old "-l" switch, respectively.
35 Apologies to Werner Almesberger for not communicating these changes/addi-
36 tions to him directly; but I have not been able to contact him by e-mail
37 at the address he provided in the latest 'lilo.lsm' file. I do not want
38 versions of LILO to get out-of-step.
40 Disk sector addresses are conveyed from the Map Installer (lilo executable)
41 to the boot loaders, first- and second-stages through a 5 byte structure:
43 sector [1..63] plus 2 high bits of Cylinder
44 cylinder [0..1023] low eight bits in this byte
45 device [0..3] for floppies, [0x80..0x8F] for hard disks
46 head [0..254] no, the max is 254, not 255
47 count [1...] number of sectors to transfer
49 The first two bytes are normally loaded into the CX register, the second
51 bytes into the DX register, and the last byte into the AL register. This
53 the call used for the C:H:S addressing scheme of the original IBM-PC BIOS.
54 LILO checks that the 64Kb DMA boundary is never crossed by a call, and that
55 the count never exceeds the sector count of one track on the disk.
57 When 'linear' is specified, a 24-bit, 0 based addressing scheme is
59 The low 8 bits are in 'sector'; the middle 8 bits in 'cylinder'; and the
61 8 bits are in 'head'. To flag this as a 'linear' address, the 'device'
63 has bit 6 set (mask 0x40 or'ed in). The count field is a maximum of 128,
64 since anything greater would cross a 64Kb DMA boundary. It is up to the
65 loader code (second stage only), to check that no track boundary is
68 The situation is more complicated with 'lba32' addressing. It is flagged
70 bit 5 of the 'device' byte being set (mask 0x20 or'ed in). The 32-bit
72 is spread over the 'sector', 'cylinder', 'head', and 'count' fields, from
74 byte to high byte, respectively. Whenever this full 32-bit address is
75 specified explicitly, the actual sector count to transfer is implied to be
76 one (1), and this fact is flagged in the 'device' byte by setting bit 5
77 (mask 0x10 or'ed in). When a multi-sector transfer is called for, the high
78 8-bits of the address are NOT specified explicitly, but are assumed to be
79 the same as the previous transfer, the 'count' of sectors to transfer will
80 be in the range [2..127], and bit 5 (mask 0x10) of the 'device' byte will
84 The first-stage loader uses single sector transfers only, so it uses a
85 simplified disk read routine, always assumes a sector transfer count of 1,
86 and always assumes that the full 32-bit address of the sector is specified
87 when 'lba32' mode is detected in the 'device' byte. However, the second-
88 stage loader is capable of multi-sector transfers when map-compaction has
89 been used (-c switch, or 'compact' global option), so it uses the fully
90 capable read routine to load the -initrd- image, and the -kernel- image.
92 Both 'linear' and 'lba32' will use the Enhanced BIOS packet calls, if they
93 are available. Otherwise, the disk address is converted to C:H:S, using
95 disk geometry returned by (int 0x13, AH=8). If cylinder overflow occurs --
96 i.e., cylinder > 1023, then error code '9f' is issued.
98 The BIOS calls used to implement large disk booting conform to the Enhanced
99 Disk Drive Specification, version 3.0, rev 0.8, dated March 12, 1998. This
100 document is available on-line from Phoenix Technologies Ltd., at:
102 http://www.phoenix.com/products/specs.html
105 The chain loader, 'os2_d.b', still will not boot OS2 4.0 from a
107 partition on my "D:" drive. Boot Manager can, and I am still working on
109 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
114 Important: The file INCOMPAT contains vital (in)compatibility information
115 for this release of LILO. Read it before proceeding.
117 Installing boot loaders is inherently dangerous. Be sure to have some means
118 to boot your system from a different media if you install LILO on your hard
122 There is also a LaTeX version of this document in the "doc" directory.
123 It is much nicer to read than pure ASCII.
129 Please read the file INCOMPAT for compatibility notes.
131 The installation procedure is described in the section "Normal first-time
132 installation". Please read "Booting basics" for the whole story.
134 *** QUICK INSTALLATION ***
136 If you want to install LILO on your hard disk and if you don't want
137 to use all its features, you can use the quick installation script.
138 Read QuickInst for details.
142 LILO is a versatile boot loader for Linux. It does not depend on a
143 specific file system, can boot Linux kernel images from floppy disks and
144 from hard disks and can even act as a "boot manager" for other operating
147 * PC/MS-DOS, DR DOS, OS/2, Windows 95, Windows NT, 386BSD, SCO UNIX,
150 One of up to sixteen different images can be selected at boot time. Various
151 parameters, such as the root device, can be set independently for each
152 kernel. LILO can even be used as the master boot record.
154 This document introduces the basics of disk organization and booting,
155 continues with an overview of common boot techniques and finally describes
156 installation and use of LILO in greater detail. The troubleshooting section
157 at the end describes diagnostic messages and contains suggestions for most
158 problems that have been observed in the past.
160 Please read at least the sections about installation and configuration if
161 you're already using an older version of LILO. This distribution is
162 accompanied by a file named INCOMPAT that describes further
163 incompatibilities to older versions.
165 For the impatient: there is a quick-installation script to create a simple
166 but quite usable installation. See section "Quick installation" for
169 But wait ... here are a few easy rules that will help you to avoid most
170 problems people experience with LILO:
172 - _Don't panic._ If something doesn't work, try to find out what is
173 wrong, try to verify your assumption and only then attempt to fix it.
174 - Read the documentation. Especially if what the system does doesn't
175 correspond to what you think it should do.
176 - Make sure you have an emergency boot disk, that you know how to use it,
177 and that it is always kept up to date.
178 - Run /sbin/lilo _whenever_ the kernel or any part of LILO, including its
179 configuration file, has changed. When in doubt, run it. You can't run
180 /sbin/lilo too many times.
181 - If performing a destructive upgrade and/or erasing your Linux
182 partitions, de-install LILO _before_ that if using it as the MBR.
183 - Don't trust setup scripts. Always verify the /etc/lilo.conf they create
185 - If using a big disk, be prepared for inconveniences: you may have to
186 use the LINEAR option.
192 LILO is a collection of several programs and other files:
194 The map installer is the program you run under Linux to put all files
195 belonging to LILO at the appropriate places and to record information
196 about the location of data needed at boot time. This program normally
197 resides in /sbin/lilo. It has to be run to refresh that information
198 whenever any part of the system that LILO knows about changes, e.g.
199 after installing a new kernel.
200 Various files contain data LILO needs at boot time, e.g. the boot
201 loader. Those files normally reside in /boot. The most important files
202 are the boot loader (see below) and the map file (/boot/map), where the
203 map installer records the location of the kernel(s).* Another important
204 file is the configuration file, which is normally called /etc/lilo.conf
205 The boot loader is the part of LILO that is loaded by the BIOS and that
206 loads kernels or the boot sectors of other operating systems. It also
207 provides a simple command-line interface to interactively select the
208 item to boot and to add boot options.
210 * LILO does not know how to read a file system. Instead, the map
211 installer asks the kernel for the physical location of files (e.g. the
212 kernel image(s)) and records that information. This allows LILO to work
213 with most file systems that are supported by Linux.
215 LILO primarily accesses the following parts of the system:
217 The root file system partition is important for two reasons: first, LILO
218 sometimes has to tell the kernel where to look for it. Second, it is
219 frequently a convenient place for many other items LILO uses, such as
220 the boot sector, the /boot directory, and the kernels.
221 The boot sector contains the first part of LILO's boot loader. It loads
222 the much larger second-stage loader.
223 The kernel is loaded and started by the boot loader. Kernels typically
224 reside in the root directory or in /boot.
226 Note that many of the files LILO needs at boot time have to be accessible
227 with the BIOS. This creates certain restrictions, see section "BIOS
234 The following sections describe how PCs boot in general and what has to be
235 known when booting Linux and using LILO in particular.
241 When designing a boot concept, it is important to understand some of the
242 subtleties of how PCs typically organize disks. The most simple case are
243 floppy disks. They consist of a boot sector, some administrative data (FAT
244 or super block, etc.) and the data area. Because that administrative data
245 is irrelevant as far as booting is concerned, it is regarded as part of the
246 data area for simplicity.
248 +---------------------------+
255 +---------------------------+
257 The entire disk appears as one device (e.g. /dev/fd0) on Linux.
259 The MS-DOS boot sector has the following structure:
261 +------------------------+
262 0x000 |Jump to the program code|
263 |------------------------|
267 |------------------------|
272 |------------------------|
273 0x1FE | Magic number (0xAA55) |
274 +------------------------+
276 LILO uses a similar boot sector, but it does not contain the disk
277 parameters part. This is no problem for Minix, Ext2 or similar file
278 systems, because they don't look at the boot sector, but putting a LILO
279 boot sector on an MS-DOS file system would make it inaccessible for MS-DOS.
281 Hard disks are organized in a more complex way than floppy disks. They
282 contain several data areas called partitions. Up to four so-called primary
283 partitions can exist on an MS-DOS hard disk. If more partitions are needed,
284 one primary partition is used as an extended partition that contains
285 several logical partitions.
287 The first sector of each hard disk contains a partition table, and an
288 extended partition and _each_ logical partition contains a partition table
291 +--------------------------------------------+
292 | Partition table /dev/hda |
293 | +------------------------------------------|
294 | | Partition 1 /dev/hda1 |
296 | |------------------------------------------|
297 | | Partition 2 /dev/hda2 |
299 +--------------------------------------------+
301 The entire disk can be accessed as /dev/hda, /dev/hdb, /dev/sda, etc. The
302 primary partitions are /dev/hda1 ... /dev/hda4.
304 +--------------------------------------------+
305 | Partition table /dev/hda |
306 | +------------------------------------------|
307 | | Partition 1 /dev/hda1 |
309 | |------------------------------------------|
310 | | Partition 2 /dev/hda2 |
312 | |------------------------------------------|
313 | | Extended partition /dev/hda3 |
314 | | +----------------------------------------|
315 | | | Extended partition table |
316 | | |----------------------------------------|
317 | | | Partition 3 /dev/hda5 |
319 | | |----------------------------------------|
320 | | | Extended partition table |
321 | | |----------------------------------------|
322 | | | Partition 4 /dev/hda6 |
324 +--------------------------------------------+
326 This hard disk has two primary partitions and an extended partition that
327 contains two logical partitions. They are accessed as /dev/hda5 ...
329 Note that the partition tables of logical partitions are not accessible as
330 the first blocks of some devices, while the main partition table, all boot
331 sectors and the partition tables of extended partitions are.
333 Partition tables are stored in partition boot sectors. Normally, only the
334 partition boot sector of the entire disk is used as a boot sector. It is
335 also frequently called the master boot record (MBR). Its structure is as
338 +------------------------+
343 |------------------------|
344 0x1BE | Partition table |
346 |------------------------|
347 0x1FE | Magic number (0xAA55) |
348 +------------------------+
350 The LILO boot sector is designed to be usable as a partition boot sector.
351 (I.e. there is room for the partition table.) Therefore, the LILO boot
352 sector can be stored at the following locations:
354 - boot sector of a Linux floppy disk. (/dev/fd0, ...)
355 - MBR of the first hard disk. (/dev/hda, /dev/sda, ...)
356 - boot sector of a primary Linux file system partition on the first hard
357 disk. (/dev/hda1, ...)
358 - partition boot sector of an extended partition on the first hard disk.
361 * Most FDISK-type programs don't believe in booting from an extended
362 partition and refuse to activate it. LILO is accompanied by a simple
363 program (activate) that doesn't have this restriction. Linux fdisk also
364 supports activating extended partitions.
366 It _can't_ be stored at any of the following locations:
368 - boot sector of a non-Linux floppy disk or primary partition.
369 - a Linux swap partition.
370 - boot sector of a logical partition in an extended partition.*
371 - on the second hard disk. (Unless for backup installations, if the
372 current first disk will be removed or disabled, or if some other boot
373 loader is used, that is capable of loading boot sectors from other
376 * LILO can be forced to put the boot sector on such a partition by using
377 the -b option or the BOOT variable. However, only few programs that
378 operate as master boot records support booting from a logical
381 Although LILO tries to detect attempts to put its boot sector at an invalid
382 location, you should not rely on that.
388 When booting from a floppy disk, the first sector of the disk, the
389 so-called boot sector, is loaded. That boot sector contains a small program
390 that loads the respective operating system. MS-DOS boot sectors also
391 contain a data area, where disk and file system parameters (cluster size,
392 number of sectors, number of heads, etc.) are stored.
394 When booting from a hard disk, the very first sector of that disk, the
395 so-called master boot record (MBR) is loaded. This sector contains a loader
396 program and the partition table of the disk. The loader program usually
397 loads the boot sector, as if the system was booting from a floppy.
399 Note that there is no functional difference between the MBR and the boot
400 sector other than that the MBR contains the partition information but
401 doesn't contain any file system-specific information (e.g. MS-DOS disk
404 The first 446 (0x1BE) bytes of the MBR are used by the loader program. They
405 are followed by the partition table, with a length of 64 (0x40) bytes. The
406 last two bytes contain a magic number that is sometimes used to verify that
407 a given sector really is a boot sector.
409 There is a large number of possible boot configurations. The most common
410 ones are described in the following sections.
416 +-------------------------------------------------------+
417 | Master Boot Record Boot sector Operating system |
418 |-------------------------------------------------------|
419 | DOS-MBR ------------> MS-DOS ------> COMMAND.COM |
420 +-------------------------------------------------------+
422 This is what usually happens when MS-DOS boots from a hard disk: the
423 DOS-MBR determines the active partition and loads the MS-DOS boot sector.
424 This boot sector loads MS-DOS and finally passes control to COMMAND.COM.
425 (This is greatly simplified.)
431 +------------------------------------------------------------+
432 | Master Boot Record Boot sector Operating system |
433 |------------------------------------------------------------|
434 | DOS-MBR ------------> MS-DOS ------> COMMAND.COM |
435 | ---> LOADLIN ------> Linux |
436 +------------------------------------------------------------+
438 A typical LOADLIN setup: everything happens like when booting MS-DOS, but
439 in CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT, LOADLIN is invoked. Typically, a program
440 like BOOT.SYS is used to choose among configuration sections in CONFIG.SYS
441 and AUTOEXEC.BAT. This approach has the pleasant property that no boot
442 sectors have to be altered.
444 Please refer to the documentation accompanying the LOADLIN package for
445 installation instructions and further details.
448 LILO started by DOS-MBR
449 - - - - - - - - - - - -
451 +-------------------------------------------------------+
452 | Master Boot Record Boot sector Operating system |
453 |-------------------------------------------------------|
454 | DOS-MBR ------------> LILO --------> Linux |
456 +-------------------------------------------------------+
458 This is a "safe" LILO setup: LILO is booted by the DOS-MBR. No other boot
459 sectors have to be touched. If the other OS (or one of them, if there are
460 several other operating systems being used) should be booted without using
461 LILO, the other partition has to be marked "active" with fdisk or activate.
465 - install LILO with its boot sector on the Linux partition.
466 - use fdisk or activate to make that partition active.
471 - make a different partition active.
472 - install whatever should replace LILO and/or Linux.
475 Several alternate branches
476 - - - - - - - - - - - - -
478 +------------------------------------------------------------+
479 | Master Boot Record Boot sector Operating system |
480 |------------------------------------------------------------|
481 | DOS-MBR ------------> MS-DOS ------> COMMAND.COM |
482 | ---> LOADLIN ------> Linux |
483 | ---> LILO --------> Linux |
484 | ---> MS-DOS --- ... |
485 +------------------------------------------------------------+
487 An extended form of the above setup: the MBR is not changed and both
488 branches can either boot Linux or MS-DOS. (LILO could also boot other
492 LILO started by BOOTACTV*
493 - - - - - - - - - - - - -
495 * Other, possibly better known boot switchers, e.g. OS/2 BootManager
496 operate in a similar way. The installation procedures typically vary.
498 +-------------------------------------------------------+
499 | Master Boot Record Boot sector Operating system |
500 |-------------------------------------------------------|
501 | BOOTACTV -----------> LILO --------> Linux |
503 +-------------------------------------------------------+
505 Here, the MBR is replaced by BOOTACTV (or any other interactive boot
506 partition selector) and the choice between Linux and the other operating
507 system(s) can be made at boot time. This approach should be used if LILO
508 fails to boot the other operating system(s).*
510 * And the author would like to be notified if booting the other
511 operating system(s) doesn't work with LILO, but if it works with an
512 other boot partition selector.
517 - make a backup copy of your MBR on a floppy disk, e.g.
518 dd if=/dev/hda of=/fd/MBR bs=512 count=1
519 - install LILO with the boot sector on the Linux partition.
520 - install BOOTACTV as the MBR, e.g.
521 dd if=bootactv.bin of=/dev/hda bs=446 count=1
527 - restore the old MBR, e.g.
528 dd if=/MBR of=/dev/hda bs=446 count=1
529 or FDISK /MBR under MS-DOS.
531 If replacing the MBR appears undesirable and if a second Linux partition
532 exists (e.g. /usr, _not_ a swap partition), BOOTACTV can be merged with the
533 partition table and stored as the "boot sector" of that partition. Then,
534 the partition can be marked active to be booted by the DOS-MBR.
538 # dd if=/dev/hda of=/dev/hda3 bs=512 count=1
539 # dd if=bootactv.bin of=/dev/hda3 bs=446 count=1
541 _WARNING:_ Whenever the disk is re-partitioned, the merged boot sector on
542 that "spare" Linux partition has to be updated too.
548 +----------------------------------------+
549 | Master Boot Record Operating system |
550 |----------------------------------------|
551 | LILO ---------------> Linux |
553 +----------------------------------------+
555 LILO can also take over the entire boot procedure. If installed as the MBR,
556 LILO is responsible for either booting Linux or any other OS. This approach
557 has the disadvantage, that the old MBR is overwritten and has to be
558 restored (either from a backup copy, with FDISK /MBR on recent versions of
559 MS-DOS or by overwriting it with something like BOOTACTV) if Linux should
560 ever be removed from the system.
562 You should verify that LILO is able to boot your other operating system(s)
563 before relying on this method.
568 - make a backup copy of your MBR on a floppy disk, e.g.
569 dd if=/dev/hda of=/fd/MBR bs=512 count=1
570 - install LILO with its boot sector as the MBR.
576 - restore the old MBR, e.g.
577 dd if=/fd/MBR of=/dev/hda bs=446 count=1
579 If you've installed LILO as the master boot record, you have to explicitly
580 specify the boot sector (configuration variable BOOT=...) when updating the
581 map. Otherwise, it will try to use the boot sector of your current root
582 partition, which will usually work, but it will probably leave your system
589 The following names have been used to describe boot sectors or parts of
592 "DOS-MBR" is the original MS-DOS MBR. It scans the partition table for a
593 partition that is marked "active" and loads the boot sector of that
594 partition. Programs like MS-DOS' FDISK, Linux fdisk or activate
595 (accompanies LILO) can change the active marker in the partition table.
596 "MS-DOS" denotes the MS-DOS boot sector that loads the other parts of
597 the system (IO.SYS, etc.).
598 "COMMAND.COM" is the standard command interpreter of MS-DOS.
599 "LOADLIN" is a program that loads a Linux kernel image from an MS-DOS
600 partition into memory and executes it. It is usually invoked from
601 CONFIG.SYS and is used in combination with a CONFIG.SYS configuration
602 switcher, like BOOT.SYS.*
603 "LILO" can either load a Linux kernel or the boot sector of any other
604 operating system. It has a first stage boot sector that loads the
605 remaining parts of LILO from various locations.**
606 "BOOTACTV" permits interactive selection of the partition from which the
607 boot sector should be read. If no key is pressed within a given
608 interval, the partition marked active is booted. BOOTACTV is included
609 in the pfdisk package. There are also several similar programs, like
612 * LOADLIN is available for anonymous FTP from
613 ftp://tsx-11.mit.edu/pub/linux/dos_utils/lodlin<n>.tar.gz
614 ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/boot/dualboot/lodlin<n>.tgz
615 BOOT.SYS is available for anonymous FTP from
616 ftp://ftp.funet.fi/pub/Linux/tools/boot142.zip
618 ** LILO can be found in
619 ftp://tsx-11.mit.edu/pub/linux/packages/lilo/lilo-<n>.tar.gz
620 ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/boot/lilo/lilo-<n>.tar.gz
621 ftp://lrcftp.epfl.ch/pub/linux/local/lilo/lilo-<n>.tar.gz
623 *** pfdisk is available for anonymous FTP from
624 ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/utils/disk-management/pfdisk.tar.Z or
625 ftp://ftp.funet.fi/pub/Linux/tools/pfdisk.tar.Z
626 PBOOT can be found in
627 ftp://ftp.funet.fi/pub/Linux/tools/pboot.zip
630 Choosing the "right" boot concept
631 -----------------------------------
633 Although LILO can be installed in many different ways, the choice is
634 usually limited by the present setup and therefore, typically only a small
635 number of configurations which fit naturally into an existing system
636 remains. The following sections describe various possible cases. See also
637 section "BIOS restrictions".
639 The configuration file /etc/lilo.conf for the examples could look like
650 It installs a Linux kernel image (/vmlinuz), an alternate Linux kernel
651 image (/vmlinuz.old) and a chain loader to boot MS-DOS from /dev/hda1. The
652 option COMPACT on the second line instructs the map installer to optimize
655 In all examples, the names of the IDE-type hard disk devices (/dev/hda...)
656 are used. Everything applies to other disk types (e.g. SCSI disks;
663 Nowadays, an increasing number of systems is equipped with comparably large
664 disks or even with multiple disks. At the time the disk interface of the
665 standard PC BIOS has been designed (about 16 years ago), such
666 configurations were apparently considered to be too unlikely to be worth
669 The most common BIOS restrictions that affect LILO are the limitation to
670 two hard disks and the inability to access more than 1024 cylinders per
671 disk. LILO can detect both conditions, but in order to work around the
672 underlying problems, manual intervention is necessary.
674 The drive limit does not exist in every BIOS. Some modern motherboards and
675 disk controllers are equipped with a BIOS that supports more (typically
676 four) disk drives. When attempting to access the third, fourth, etc. drive,
677 LILO prints a warning message but continues. Unless the BIOS really
678 supports more than two drives, the system will _not_ be able to boot in
681 * However, if only "unimportant" parts of the system are located on the
682 "high" drives, some functionality may be available.
684 The cylinder limit is a very common problem with IDE disks. There, the
685 number of cylinders may already exceed 1024 if the drive has a capacity of
686 more than 504 MB. Many SCSI driver BIOSes present the disk geometry in a
687 way that makes the limit occur near 1 GB. Modern disk controllers may even
688 push the limit up to about 8 GB. All cylinders beyond the 1024th are
689 inaccessible for the BIOS. LILO detects this problem and aborts the
690 installation (unless the LINEAR option is used, see section "Global
693 Note that large partitions that only partially extend into the "forbidden
694 zone" are still in jeopardy even if they appear to work at first, because
695 the file system does not know about the restrictions and may allocate disk
696 space from the area beyond the 1024th cylinder when installing new kernels.
697 LILO therefore prints a warning message but continues as long as no
698 imminent danger exists.
700 There are four approaches of how such problems can be solved:
702 - use of a different partition which is on an accessible disk and which
703 does not exceed the 1024 cylinder limit. If there is only a DOS
704 partition which fulfills all the criteria, that partition can be used
705 to store the relevant files. (See section "/boot on a DOS partition".)
706 - rearranging partitions and disks. This is typically a destructive
707 operation, so extra care should be taken to make good backups.
708 - if the system is running DOS or Windows 95, LOADLIN can be used instead
710 - if all else fails, installation of a more capable BIOS, a different
711 controller or a different disk configuration.
713 LILO depends on the BIOS to load the following items:
715 - /boot/map (created when running /sbin/lilo)
717 - the boot sectors of all other operating systems it boots
718 - the startup message, if one has been defined
720 Normally, this implies that the Linux root file system should be in the
721 "safe" area. However, it is already sufficient to put all kernels into
722 /boot and to either mount a "good" partition on /boot or to let /boot be a
723 symbolic link pointing to or into such a partition.
725 See also /usr/src/linux/Documentation/ide.txt (or
726 /usr/src/linux/drivers/block/README.ide in older kernels) for a detailed
727 description of problems with large disks.
730 One disk, Linux on a primary partition
731 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
733 If at least one primary partition of the first hard disk is used as a Linux
734 file system (/, /usr, etc. but _not_ as a swap partition), the LILO boot
735 sector should be stored on that partition and it should be booted by the
736 original master boot record or by a program like BOOTACTV.
738 +--------------------------+
740 | +------------------------|
741 | | MS-DOS /dev/hda1 |
742 | |------------------------|
743 --> | | Linux / /dev/hda2 |
744 +--------------------------+
746 In this example, the BOOT variable could be omitted, because the boot
747 sector is on the root partition.
750 One disk, Linux on a logical partition
751 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
753 If no primary partition is available for Linux, but at least one logical
754 partition of an extended partition on the first hard disk contains a Linux
755 file system, the LILO boot sector should be stored in the partition sector
756 of the extended partition and it should be booted by the original master
757 boot record or by a program like BOOTACTV.
759 +--------------------------+
761 | +------------------------|
762 | | MS-DOS /dev/hda1 |
763 | |------------------------|
764 --> | | Extended /dev/hda2 |
765 | | +----------------------|
766 | | | Linux /dev/hda5 |
767 | | |----------------------|
768 | | | ... /dev/hda6 |
769 +--------------------------+
771 Because many disk partitioning programs refuse to make an extended
772 partition (in our example /dev/hda2) active, you might have to use
773 activate, which comes with the LILO distribution.
775 OS/2 BootManager should be able to boot LILO boot sectors from logical
776 partitions. The installation on the extended partition itself is not
777 necessary in this case.
780 Two disks, Linux (at least partially) on the first disk
781 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
783 This case is equivalent to the configurations where only one disk is in the
784 system. The Linux boot sector resides on the first hard disk and the second
785 disk is used later in the boot process.
787 Only the location of the boot sector matters - everything else (/boot/map,
788 the root file system, a swap partition, other Linux file systems, etc.)
789 can be located anywhere on the second disk, provided that the constraints
790 described in section "BIOS restrictions" are met.
793 Two disks, Linux on second disk, first disk has an extended partition
794 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
796 If there is no Linux partition on the first disk, but there is an extended
797 partition, the LILO boot sector can be stored in the partition sector of
798 the extended partition and it should be booted by the original master boot
799 record or by a program like BOOTACTV.
801 FIRST DISK SECOND DISK
802 +--------------------------+ +--------------------------+
803 | MBR /dev/hda | | MBR /dev/hdb |
804 | +------------------------| | +------------------------|
805 | | MS-DOS /dev/hda1 | | | Linux /dev/hdb1 |
806 | |------------------------| | |------------------------|
807 --> | | Extended /dev/hda2 | | | ... /dev/hdb2 |
808 | | +----------------------| | | |
809 | | | ... /dev/hda5 | | | |
810 | | |----------------------| | | |
811 | | | ... /dev/hda6 | | | |
812 +--------------------------+ +--------------------------+
814 The program activate, that accompanies LILO, may have to be used to set the
815 active marker on an extended partition, because MS-DOS' FDISK and some
816 older version of Linux fdisk refuse to do that. (Which is generally a good
820 Two disks, Linux on second disk, first disk has no extended partition
821 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
823 If there is neither a Linux partition nor an extended partition on the
824 first disk, then there's only one place left, where a LILO boot sector
825 could be stored: the master boot record.
827 In this configuration, LILO is responsible for booting all other operating
830 FIRST DISK SECOND DISK
831 +--------------------------+ +--------------------------+
832 --> | MBR /dev/hda | | MBR /dev/hdb |
833 | +------------------------| | +------------------------|
834 | | MS-DOS /dev/hda1 | | | Linux /dev/hdb1 |
835 | |------------------------| | |------------------------|
836 | | ... /dev/hda2 | | | ... /dev/hdb2 |
837 +--------------------------+ +--------------------------+
839 You should back up your old MBR before installing LILO and verify that LILO
840 is able to boot your other operating system(s) before relying on this
843 The line boot = /dev/hda2 in /etc/lilo.conf would have to be changed to
844 boot = /dev/hda in this example.
850 On systems with more than two disks, typically only the first two can be
851 accessed. The configuration choices are therefore the same as with two
854 When attempting to access one of the extra disks, LILO displays a warning
855 message ( Warning: BIOS drive 0x<number> may not be accessible ) but does
856 not abort. This is done in order to allow the lucky few whose BIOS (or
857 controller-BIOS) does support more than two drives to make use of this
858 feature. By all others, this warning should be considered a fatal error.
860 Note that the two disks restriction is only imposed by the BIOS. Linux
861 normally has no problems using all disks once it is booted.
864 /boot on a DOS partition
865 - - - - - - - - - - - -
867 Recent kernels support all the functions LILO needs to map files also on
868 MS-DOS (or UMSDOS) file systems. Since DOS partitions tend to occupy
869 exactly the places where BIOS restrictions (see section "BIOS
870 restrictions") are invisible, they're an ideal location for /boot if the
871 native Linux file systems can't be used because of BIOS problems.
873 In order to accomplish this, the DOS partition is mounted read-write, a
874 directory (e.g. /dos/linux) is created, all files from /boot are moved to
875 that directory, /boot is replaced by a symbolic link to it, the kernels are
876 also moved to the new directory, their new location is recorded in
877 /etc/lilo.conf, and finally /sbin/lilo is run.
879 From then on, new kernels must always be copied into that directory on the
880 DOS partition before running /sbin/lilo, e.g. when recompiling a kernel,
881 the standard procedure changes from
888 # mv /dos/linux/vmlinuz /dos/linux/vmlinuz.old
889 # mv arch/i386/boot/zImage /dos/linux/vmlinuz
892 _WARNING:_ De-fragmenting such a DOS partition is likely to make Linux or
893 even the whole system unbootable. Therefore, the DOS partition should
894 either not be de-fragmented, or a Linux boot disk should be prepared (and
895 tested) to bring up Linux and to run /sbin/lilo after the
898 * Setting the "system" attribute from DOS on the critical files (e.g.
899 everything in C:\LINUX) may help to protect them from being rearranged.
900 However, the boot floppy should still be ready, just in case.
906 Immediately after it's loaded, LILO checks whether one of the following is
909 - any of the [Shift], [Control] or [Alt] keys is pressed.
910 - [CapsLock] or [ScrollLock] is set.
912 If this is the case, LILO displays the boot: prompt and waits for the name
913 of a boot image (i.e. Linux kernel or other operating system). Otherwise,
914 it boots the default boot image* or - if a delay has been specified - waits
915 for one of the listed activities until that amount of time has passed.
917 * The default boot image is either the first boot image, the image
918 specified with the DEFAULT variable, or the image that has been
919 selected at the boot prompt.
921 At the boot prompt, the name of the image to boot can be entered. Typing
922 errors can be corrected with [BackSpace], [Delete], [Ctrl U] and [Ctrl X].
923 A list of known images can be obtained by pressing [?] or [Tab].
925 If [Enter] is pressed and no file name has been entered, the default image
929 Boot command-line options
930 -------------------------
932 LILO is also able to pass command-line options to the kernel. Command-line
933 options are words that follow the name of the boot image and that are
938 boot: linux single root=200
940 This document only gives an overview of boot options. Please consult Paul
941 Gortmaker's BootPrompt-HOWTO for a more complete and more up to date list.
943 ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/BootPrompt-HOWTO.gz or from one
944 of the many mirror sites.
950 Recent kernels recognize a large number of options, among them are debug ,
951 no387 , no-hlt , ramdisk=<size> , reserve=<base>,<size>,... ,
952 root=<device> , ro , and rw . All current init programs also recognize
953 the option single . The options lock and vga are processed by the boot
954 loader itself. Boot command-line options are always case-sensitive.
956 single boots the system in single-user mode. This bypasses most system
957 initialization procedures and directly starts a root shell on the console.
958 Multi-user mode can typically be entered by exiting the single-user shell
961 root=<device> changes the root device. This overrides settings that may
962 have been made in the boot image and on the LILO command line. <device> is
963 either the hexadecimal device number or the full path name of the device,
966 * The device names are hard-coded in the kernel. Therefore, only the
967 "standard" names are supported and some less common devices may not be
968 recognized. In those cases, only numbers can be used.
970 reserve=<base>,<size>,... reserves IO port regions. This can be used to
971 prevent device drivers from auto-probing addresses where other devices are
972 located, which get confused by the probing.
974 ro instructs the kernel to mount the root file system read-only. rw
975 mounts it read-write. If neither ro nor rw is specified, the setting
976 from the boot image is used.
978 no-hlt avoids executing a HLT instructions whenever the system is idle.
979 HLT normally significantly reduces power consumption and therefore also
980 heat dissipation of the CPU, but may not work properly with some clone
981 CPUs. no387 disables using the hardware FPU even if one is present.
983 debug enables more verbose console logging.
985 Recent kernels also accept the options init=<name> and noinitrd . init
986 specifies the name of the init program to execute. Therefore, if single
987 mode cannot be entered because init is mis-configured, one may still be
988 able to reach a shell using init=/bin/sh. noinitrd disables automatic
989 loading of the initial RAM disk. Instead, its content is then available on
992 vga=<mode> alters the VGA mode set at startup. The values normal ,
993 extended , ask or a decimal number are recognized. (See also "Booting
994 kernel images from a file".)
996 kbd=<code>,... preloads a sequence of keystrokes in the BIOS keyboard
997 buffer. The keystrokes have to be entered as 16 bit hexadecimal numbers,
998 with the upper byte containing the scan code and the lower byte containing
999 the ASCII code. Note that most programs only use the ASCII code, so the
1000 scan code can frequently be omitted. Scan code tables can be found in many
1001 books on PC hardware. Note that scan codes depend on the keyboard layout.
1003 Finally, lock stores the current command-line as the default
1004 command-line, so that LILO boots the same image with the same options
1005 (including lock ) when invoked the next time.
1008 Device-specific options
1009 - - - - - - - - - - - -
1011 There is also a plethora of options to specify certain characteristics
1012 (e.g. IO and memory addresses) of devices. Some common ones are ether ,
1013 floppy , hd , bmouse , and sound . The usage of these options is
1014 <option>=<number>,... . Please consult the corresponding FAQs and HOWTOs
1015 for details. For an overview of all available options, consult the file
1016 init/main.c in the kernel source tree.
1022 Options of the type <variable>=<value> which are neither standard options
1023 nor device-specific options, cause the respective variables to be set in
1024 the environment passed to init. The case of the variable name is preserved,
1025 i.e. it isn't automatically converted to upper case.
1027 Note that environment variables passed to init are typically available in
1028 system initialization scripts (e.g. /etc/rc.local), but they're not visible
1029 from ordinary login sessions, because the login program removes them from
1030 the user's environment.
1036 The effect of repeating boot command-line options depends on the options.*
1037 There are three possible behaviours:
1039 * Options are frequently repeated when a string defined with APPEND or
1040 LITERAL is prepended to the parameters typed in by the user. Also, LILO
1041 implicitly prepends the options ramdisk , ro , root , or rw when
1042 RAMDISK, READ-ONLY, READ-WRITE, or ROOT, respectively, are set in the
1043 configuration file. ( lock and vga are handled by a different
1044 internal mechanism.)
1046 Options that only enable or disable a certain functionality can be repeated
1047 any number of times. debug , lock , no-hlt , and no387 fall into this
1050 Other options change a global setting whenever they appear, so only the
1051 value or presence of the last option matters. The antagonists ro and rw
1052 are such options. Also, ramdisk , root , and vga work this way.
1053 Example: ro rw would mount the root file system read-write.
1055 Finally, when reserve and many device-specific options are repeated, each
1056 occurrence has its own meaning, e.g. hd=... hd=... would configure two
1057 hard disks, and reserve=0x300,8 reserve=0x5f0,16 would reserve the ranges
1058 0x300 to 0x307 and 0x5f0 to 0x5ff (which is equivalent to writing
1059 reserve=0x300,8,0x5f0,16 ).
1065 LILO always passes the string BOOT_IMAGE=<name> to the kernel, where
1066 <name> is the name by which the kernel is identified (e.g. the label). This
1067 variable can be used in /etc/rc to select a different behaviour, depending
1070 When booting automatically, i.e. without human intervention, the word auto
1071 is also passed on the command line. This can be used by init to suppress
1072 interactive prompts in the boot phase.
1075 Boot image selection
1076 --------------------
1078 The details of selecting the boot image are somewhat complicated. The
1079 following tables illustrate them. First, if neither PROMPT is set nor a
1080 shift key is being pressed:
1082 Externally Command | Auto- Booted image
1083 provided line in | matic
1084 cmd. line* map file** | boot***
1085 ---------------------------------------------------------
1086 No No | Yes Default image
1087 Yes - | Yes Specified by external
1089 No Yes | Yes Specified by command line
1093 * Externally provided command lines could be used to add front-ends to
1094 LILO. They would pass the respective command string to LILO, which
1095 would then interpret it like keyboard input. This feature is currently
1098 ** This command line is set by invoking the map installer with the -R
1099 option, by using the boot command-line option lock , or if a fallback
1100 command line is set (with FALLBACK).
1102 *** I.e. the keyword auto is added.
1104 If PROMPT is not set and a shift key is being pressed:
1106 Input Empty Extern. Cmd.l. | Auto- Booted image
1107 timeout cmd.l. cmd.l. in map | matic
1109 -----------------------------------------------------------
1110 No No - - | No Specified by the user
1111 No Yes - - | No Default image
1112 Yes n/a - - | Yes Default image
1114 Finally, if the configuration variable PROMPT is set:
1116 Input Empty Extern. Cmd.l. | Auto- Booted image
1117 timeout cmd.l. cmd.l. in map | matic
1119 -----------------------------------------------------------
1120 No No No No | No Specified by the user
1121 No Yes No No | No Default image
1122 Yes n/a No No | Yes Default image
1123 n/a n/a Yes - | Yes Specified by external
1125 n/a n/a No Yes | Yes Specified by command
1128 Note that LILO pauses for the amount of time specified in DELAY when at the
1129 end of a default command line. The automatic boot can then be interrupted
1130 by pressing a modifier key ([Shift], [Ctrl], etc.).
1132 The default image is the first image in the map file or the image specified
1133 with the DEFAULT variable. However, after an unsuccessful boot attempt, the
1134 respective image becomes the default image.
1140 The map installer program /sbin/lilo updates the boot sector and creates
1141 the map file. If the map installer detects an error, it terminates
1142 immediately and does not touch the boot sector and the map file.
1144 Whenever the map installer updates a boot sector, the original boot sector
1145 is copied to /boot/boot.<number>, where <number> is the hexadecimal device
1146 number. If such a file already exists, no backup copy is made. Similarly, a
1147 file /boot/part.<number> is created if LILO modifies the partition table.
1148 (See "General per-image options".)
1151 Command-line options
1152 --------------------
1154 The LILO map installer can be invoked in the following ways:
1157 Show current installation
1158 - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1160 The currently mapped files are listed. With -v , also many parameters are
1163 /sbin/lilo [ -C <config_file> ] -q [ -m <map_file> ] [ -v ... ]
1166 Specifies the configuration file that is used by the map installer
1167 (see section "Configuration"). If -C is omitted, /etc/lilo.conf is
1170 Specifies an alternate map file. See also sections "Options
1171 corresponding to configuration variables" and "Global options".
1173 Lists the currently mapped files.
1175 Increase verbosity. See also sections "Options corresponding to
1176 configuration variables" and "Global options".
1179 Create or update map
1182 A new map is created for the images described in the configuration file
1183 /etc/lilo.conf and they are registered in the boot sector.
1185 /sbin/lilo [ -C <config_file> ] [ -b <boot_device> ] [ -c ] [ -l ] [ -i
1186 <boot_sector> ] [ -f <disk_tab> ] [ -m <map_file> ] [ -d <delay> ] [ -v
1187 ... ] [ -t ] [ -s <save_file> | -S <save_file> ] [ -P fix | -P ignore ]
1191 Specifies the boot device. See also sections "Options corresponding to
1192 configuration variables" and "Global options".
1194 Enables map compaction. See also sections "Options corresponding to
1195 configuration variables" and "Global options".
1197 Specifies an alternate configuration file. See also section "Show
1198 current installation".
1200 Sets the delay before LILO boots the default image. Note that the
1201 delay is specified in _tenths_ of a second. See also sections "Options
1202 corresponding to configuration variables" and "Global options".
1204 Specifies the default image. See also sections "Options corresponding
1205 to configuration variables" and "Global options".
1207 Specifies a disk parameter table file. See also sections "Options
1208 corresponding to configuration variables" and "Global options".
1210 Specifies an alternate boot file. See also sections "Options
1211 corresponding to configuration variables" and "Global options".
1213 Enables lba32 sector addresses. See also sections "Options
1214 corresponding to configuration variables" and "Global options".
1216 Enables linear sector addresses. See also sections "Options
1217 corresponding to configuration variables" and "Global options".
1219 Specifies an alternate map file. See also sections "Options
1220 corresponding to configuration variables" and "Global options".
1222 Specifies how invalid partition table entries should be handled. See
1223 also sections "Options corresponding to configuration variables" and
1226 Chroots to the specified directory before doing anything else. This is
1227 useful when running the map installer while the normal root file system
1228 is mounted somewhere else, e.g. when recovering from an installation
1229 failure with a recovery disk. The -r option is implied if the
1230 environment variable ROOT is set.* The current directory is changed
1231 to the new root directory, so using relative paths may not work.
1233 Specifies an alternate boot sector save file. See also sections
1234 "Options corresponding to configuration variables" and "Global
1237 Like -s , but overwrites old save files.
1239 Test only. This performs the entire installation procedure except
1240 replacing the map file, writing the modified boot sector and fixing
1241 partition tables. This can be used in conjunction with the -v option
1242 to verify that LILO will use sane values.
1244 Increase verbosity. See also sections "Options corresponding to
1245 configuration variables" and "Global options".
1247 * E.g. if your root partition is mounted on /mnt, you can update the map
1248 by simply running ROOT=/mnt /mnt/sbin/lilo
1251 Change default command line
1252 - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1254 Changes LILO's default command line. See also section "Boot image
1257 /sbin/lilo [ -C <config_file> ] [ -m <map_file> ] -R [ <word> ... ]
1260 Specifies an alternate configuration file. See also section "Show
1261 current installation".
1263 Specifies an alternate map file. See also sections "Options
1264 corresponding to configuration variables" and "Global options".
1266 Stores the specified words in the map file. The boot loader uses those
1267 words as the default command line when booting the next time. That
1268 command line is removed from the map file by the boot loader by
1269 overwriting the sector immediately after reading it. The first word has
1270 to be the name of a boot image. If -R is not followed by any words,
1271 the current default command line in the map file is erased.* If the
1272 command line isn't valid, the map installer issues an error message and
1273 returns a non-zero exit code.
1275 * -R is typically used in reboot scripts, e.g.
1278 /sbin/lilo -R "$*" && reboot
1281 Kernel name translation
1282 - - - - - - - - - - - -
1284 Determines the path of the kernel.
1286 /sbin/lilo [ -C <config_file> ] -I <name> [ <options> ]
1289 Specifies an alternate configuration file. See also section "Show
1290 current installation".
1291 -I <name> [ <options> ]
1292 Translates the specified label name to the path of the corresponding
1293 kernel image and prints that path on standard output. This can be used
1294 to synchronize files that depend on the kernel (e.g. the ps database).
1295 The image name can be obtained from the environment variable
1296 BOOT_IMAGE . An error message is issued and a non-zero exit code is
1297 returned if no matching label name can be found. The existence of the
1298 image file is verified if the option character v is added.
1304 Restores the boot sector that was used before the installation of LILO.
1305 Note that this option only works properly if LILO's directories (e.g.
1306 /boot) have not been touched since the first installation. See also section
1307 "LILO de-installation".
1309 /sbin/lilo [ -C <config_file> ] [ -s <save_file> ] -u | -U [
1313 Specifies an alternate configuration file. See also section "Show
1314 current installation".
1316 Specifies an alternate boot sector save file. See also sections
1317 "Options corresponding to configuration variables" and "Global
1319 -u [ <device_name> ]
1320 Restores the backup copy of the specified boot sector. If no device is
1321 specified, the value of the boot variable is used. If this one is also
1322 unavailable, LILO uses the current root device. The name of the backup
1323 copy is derived from the device name. The -s option or the backup
1324 variable can be used to override this. LILO validates the backup copy
1325 by checking a time stamp.
1326 -U [ <device_name> ]
1327 Like -u, but does not check the time stamp.
1330 Print version number
1336 Print the version number and exit.
1339 Options corresponding to configuration variables
1340 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1342 There are also many command-line options that correspond to configuration
1343 variables. See section "Global options" for a description.
1345 Command-line option | Configuration variable
1346 ------------------------------------------------
1347 -b <boot_device> | boot=<boot_device>
1349 -d <tsecs> | delay=<tsecs>
1350 -D <name> | default=<name>
1351 -i <boot_sector> | install=<boot_sector>
1354 -m <map_file> | map=<map_file>
1356 -P ignore | ignore-table
1357 -s <backup_file> | backup=<backup_file>
1358 -S <backup_file> | force-backup=<backup_file>
1359 -v ... | verbose=<level>
1365 The configuration information is stored in the file /etc/lilo.conf and
1366 consists of variable assignments.
1372 The following syntax rules apply:
1374 - flag variables consist of a single word and are followed by whitespace
1375 or the end of the file.
1376 - string variables consist of the variable name, optional whitespace, an
1377 equal sign, optional whitespace, the value and required whitespace, or
1378 the end of the file.
1379 - a non-empty sequence of blanks, tabs, newlines and comments counts as
1381 - variable names are case-insensitive. Values are usually case-sensitive,
1382 but there are a few exceptions. (See below.)
1383 - tabs and newlines are special characters and may not be part of a
1384 variable name or a value. The use of other control characters and
1385 non-ASCII characters is discouraged.
1386 - blanks and equal signs may only be part of a variable name or a value
1387 if they are escaped by a backslash or if the value is embedded in
1388 double quotes. An equal sign may not be the only character in a name or
1390 - an escaped tab is converted to an escaped blank. An escaped newline is
1391 removed from the input stream. An escaped backslash (i.e. two
1392 backslashes) is converted to a backslash. Inside quoted strings, only
1393 double quotes, backslashes, dollar signs, and newlines can be escaped.
1394 - quoted strings can be continued over several lines by ending each
1395 incomplete line with a backslash. A single space is inserted in the
1396 string for the line end and all spaces or tabs that follow immediately
1398 - environment variables can be used by specifying them in the form
1399 $<name> or ${<name>}. Dollar signs can be escaped.
1400 - comments begin with a number sign and end with the next newline. All
1401 characters (including backslashes) until the newline are ignored.
1410 append = "nfsroot=/home/linux-install/root \
1411 nfsaddrs=128.178.156.28:128.178.156.24::255.255.255.0:lrcinst"
1418 /etc/lilo.conf begins with a possibly empty global options section. Many
1419 global options can also be set from the command line, but storing permanent
1420 options in the configuration file is more convenient.
1422 The following global options are recognized:
1424 BACKUP=<backup_file> Copy the original boot sector to <backup_file>
1425 (which may also be a device, e.g. /dev/null) instead of
1427 BOOT=<boot_device> Sets the name of the device (e.g. a hard disk
1428 partition) that contains the boot sector. If BOOT is omitted, the boot
1429 sector is read from (and possibly written to) the device that is
1430 currently mounted as root.
1431 CHANGE-RULES Defines partition type numbers. See section "Partition type
1432 change rules" for details.
1433 COMPACT Tries to merge read requests for adjacent sectors into a single
1434 read request. This drastically reduces load time and keeps the map
1435 smaller. Using COMPACT is especially recommended when booting from a
1436 floppy disk. COMPACT may conflict with LINEAR or LBA32, see section
1438 DEFAULT=<name> Uses the specified image as the default boot image. If
1439 DEFAULT is omitted, the image appearing first in the configuration file
1441 DELAY=<tsecs> Specifies the number of _tenths_ of a second LILO should
1442 wait before booting the first image. This is useful on systems that
1443 immediately boot from the hard disk after enabling the keyboard. LILO
1444 doesn't wait if DELAY is omitted or if DELAY is set to zero.
1445 DISK=<device_name> Defines non-standard parameters for the specified
1446 disk. See section "Disk geometry" for details.
1447 FIX-TABLE Allows LILO to adjust 3D addresses in partition tables. Each
1448 partition entry contains a 3D (sector/head/cylinder) and a linear
1449 32-bit address of the first and the last sector of the partition. If a
1450 partition is not track-aligned and if certain other operating systems
1451 (e.g. PC/MS-DOS or OS/2) are using the same disk, they may change the
1452 3D address. LILO can store its boot sector only on partitions where
1453 both address types correspond. LILO re-adjusts incorrect 3D start
1454 addresses if FIX-TABLE is set.
1456 _WARNING:_ This does not guarantee that other operating systems may
1457 not attempt to reset the address later. It is also possible that this
1458 change has other, unexpected side-effects. The correct fix is to
1459 re-partition the drive with a program that does align partitions to
1460 tracks. Also, with some disks (e.g. some large EIDE disks with address
1461 translation enabled), under some circumstances, it may even be
1462 unavoidable to have conflicting partition table entries.
1463 FORCE-BACKUP=<backup_file> Like BACKUP, but overwrite an old backup copy
1464 if it exists. BACKUP=<backup_file> is ignored if FORCE-BACKUP appears
1465 in the same configuration file.
1466 IGNORE-TABLE Tells LILO to ignore corrupt partition tables and to put
1467 the boot sector even on partitions that appear to be unsuitable for
1469 INSTALL=<boot_sector> Install the specified file as the new boot sector.
1470 If INSTALL is omitted, install=text is used as the default.
1471 KEYTABLE=<table_file> Re-map the keyboard as specified in this file. See
1472 section "Keyboard translation" for details.
1473 LBA32 Generate 32-bit Logical Block Addresses instead of
1474 sector/head/cylinder addresses. If the BIOS supports packet addressing,
1475 then packet calls will be used to access the disk. This allows booting
1476 from any partition on disks with more than 1024 cylinders. If the BIOS
1477 does not support packet addressing, then LBA32 addresses are translated
1478 to C:H:S, just as for LINEAR. All floppy disk references are retained
1479 in C:H:S form. Use of LBA32 is recommended on all post-1998 systems.
1480 LBA32 may conflict with COMPACT, see section "Other problems".
1481 LINEAR Generate linear sector addresses instead of sector/head/cylinder
1482 addresses. Linear addresses are translated at run time and do not
1483 depend on disk geometry. Note that boot disks may not be portable if
1484 LINEAR is used, because the BIOS service to determine the disk geometry
1485 does not work reliably for floppy disks. When using LINEAR with large
1486 disks, /sbin/lilo may generate references to inaccessible disk areas
1487 (see section "BIOS restrictions"), because 3D sector addresses are not
1488 known before boot time. LINEAR may conflict with COMPACT, see section
1490 MAP=<map_file> Specifies the location of the map file. If MAP is
1491 omitted, a file /boot/map is used.
1492 MESSAGE=<message_file> Specifies a file containing a message that is
1493 displayed before the boot prompt. No message is displayed while waiting
1494 for a modifier key ([Shift], etc.) after printing "LILO ". In the
1495 message, the FF character ([Ctrl L]) clears the local screen. The
1496 size of the message file is limited to 65535 bytes. The map file has to
1497 be rebuilt if the message file is changed or moved.
1498 NOWARN Disables warnings about possible future dangers.
1499 PROMPT Forces entering the boot prompt without expecting any prior
1500 key-presses. Unattended reboots are impossible if PROMPT is set and
1502 SERIAL=<parameters> Enables control from a serial line. The specified
1503 serial port is initialized and LILO is accepting input from it and from
1504 the PC's keyboard. Sending a break on the serial line corresponds to
1505 pressing a shift key on the console in order to get LILO's attention.
1506 All boot images should be password-protected if the serial access is
1507 less secure than access to the console, e.g. if the line is connected
1508 to a modem. The parameter string has the following syntax:
1509 <port>,<bps><parity><bits>
1510 The components <bps>, <parity> and <bits> can be omitted. If a
1511 component is omitted, all following components have to be omitted too.
1512 Additionally, the comma has to be omitted if only the port number is
1515 <port> the number of the serial port, zero-based. 0 corresponds to
1516 COM1 alias /dev/ttyS0, etc. All four ports can be used (if
1518 <bps> the baud rate of the serial port. The following baud rates are
1519 supported: 110, 300, 1200, 2400, 4800, 9600, 19200, and 38400 bps.
1520 Default is 2400 bps.
1521 <parity> the parity used on the serial line. LILO ignores input
1522 parity and strips the 8th bit. The following (upper or lower case)
1523 characters are used to describe the parity: n for no parity, e
1524 for even parity and o for odd parity.
1525 <bits> the number of bits in a character. Only 7 and 8 bits are
1526 supported. Default is 8 if parity is "none", 7 if parity is "even"
1529 If SERIAL is set, the value of DELAY is automatically raised to 20.
1531 Example: serial=0,2400n8 initializes COM1 with the default parameters.
1532 TIMEOUT=<tsecs> Sets a timeout (in tenths of a second) for keyboard
1533 input. If no key is pressed for the specified time, the first image is
1534 automatically booted. Similarly, password input is aborted if the user
1535 is idle for too long. The default timeout is infinite.
1536 VERBOSE=<level> Turns on lots of progress reporting. Higher numbers give
1537 more verbose output. If -v is additionally specified on the command
1538 line, <level> is increased accordingly. The following verbosity levels
1541 <0 only warnings and errors are shown
1542 0 prints one line for each added or skipped image
1543 1 mentions names of important files and devices and why they are
1544 accessed. Also displays informational messages for exceptional but
1545 harmless conditions and prints the version number.
1546 2 displays statistics and processing of temporary files and devices
1547 3 displays disk geometry information and partition table change
1549 4 lists sector mappings as they are written into the map file (i.e.
1550 after compaction, in a format suitable to pass it to the BIOS)
1551 5 lists the mapping of each sector (i.e. before compaction, raw)
1553 When using the -q option, the levels have a slightly different
1556 0 displays only image names
1557 1 also displays all global and per-image settings
1558 2 displays the address of the first map sector
1560 Additionally, the kernel configuration parameters APPEND, INITRD, RAMDISK,
1561 READ-ONLY, READ-WRITE, ROOT and VGA, and the general per-image options
1562 FALLBACK, LOCK, OPTIONAL, PASSWORD, RESTRICTED, and SINGLE-KEY can be set
1563 in the global options section. They are used as defaults if they aren't
1564 specified in the configuration sections of the respective images. See below
1567 The plethora of options may be intimidating at first, but in "normal"
1568 configurations, hardly any options but BOOT, COMPACT, DELAY, ROOT, and VGA
1572 General per-image options
1573 - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1575 The following options can be specified for all images, independent of their
1578 ALIAS=<name> Specifies a second name for the current entry.
1579 FALLBACK=<command_line> Specifies a string that is stored as the default
1580 command line if the current image is booted. This is useful when
1581 experimenting with kernels which may crash before allowing interaction
1582 with the system. If using the FALLBACK option, the next reboot (e.g.
1583 triggered by a manual reset or by a watchdog timer) will load a
1584 different (supposedly stable) kernel. The command line by the fallback
1585 mechanism is cleared by removing or changing the default command line
1586 with the -R option, see "Change default command line".
1587 LABEL=<name> By default, LILO uses the main file name (without its path)
1588 of each image specification to identify that image. A different name
1589 can be used by setting the variable LABEL.
1590 LOCK Enables automatic recording of boot command lines as the defaults
1591 for the following boots. This way, LILO "locks" on a choice until it is
1592 manually overridden.
1593 OPTIONAL Omit this image if its main file is not available at map
1594 creation time. This is useful to specify test kernels that are not
1596 PASSWORD=<password> Ask the user for a password when trying to load this
1597 image. Because the configuration file contains unencrypted passwords
1598 when using this option, it should only be readable for the super-user.
1599 Passwords are always case-sensitive.
1600 RESTRICTED Relaxes the password protection by requiring a password only
1601 if parameters are specified on the command line (e.g. single).
1602 RESTRICTED can only be used together with PASSWORD.
1603 SINGLE-KEY Enables booting the image by hitting a single key, without
1604 the need to press [Enter] afterwards. SINGLE-KEY requires that either
1605 the image's label or its alias (or both) is a single character.
1606 Furthermore, no other image label or alias may start with that
1607 character, e.g. an entry specifying a label linux and an alias l is
1608 not allowed with SINGLE-KEY. Note that you can't specify command-line
1609 parameters for an entry for which only SINGLE-KEYed names exist.
1611 All general per-image options, with the exception of LABEL and ALIAS, can
1612 also be set in the global options section as defaults for all images.
1627 Per-image options for kernels
1628 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1630 Each (kernel or non-kernel) image description begins with a special
1631 variable (see section "Booting kernel images from a device") which is
1632 followed by optional variables. The following variables can be used for all
1633 image descriptions that describe a Linux kernel:
1635 APPEND=<string> Appends the options specified in <string> to the
1636 parameter line passed to the kernel. This is typically used to specify
1637 parameters of hardware that can't be entirely auto-detected, e.g.
1638 append = "aha152x=0x140,11"
1639 INITRD=<name> Specifies the file that will be loaded at boot time as the
1641 LITERAL=<string> like APPEND, but removes all other options (e.g.
1642 setting of the root device). Because vital options can be removed
1643 unintentionally with LITERAL, this option cannot be set in the global
1645 RAMDISK=<size> Specifies the size of the optional RAM disk. A value of
1646 zero indicates that no RAM disk should be created. If this variable is
1647 omitted, the RAM disk size configured into the boot image is used.
1648 READ-ONLY Specifies that the root file system should be mounted
1649 read-only. Typically, the system startup procedure re-mounts the root
1650 file system read-write later (e.g. after fsck'ing it).
1651 READ-WRITE specifies that the root file system should be mounted
1653 ROOT=<root_device> Specifies the device that should be mounted as root.
1654 If the special name CURRENT is used, the root device is set to the
1655 device on which the root file system is currently mounted. If the root
1656 has been changed with -r , the respective device is used. If the
1657 variable ROOT is omitted, the root device setting contained in the
1658 kernel image is used. It can be changed with the rdev program.
1659 VGA=<mode> Specifies the VGA text mode that should be selected when
1660 booting. The following values are recognized (case is ignored):
1662 NORMAL select normal 80x25 text mode.
1663 EXTENDED select 80x50 text mode. The word EXTENDED can be
1665 ASK stop and ask for user input (at boot time).
1666 <number> use the corresponding text mode. A list of available modes
1667 can be obtained by booting with vga=ask and pressing [Enter].
1669 If this variable is omitted, the VGA mode setting contained in the
1670 kernel image is used. rdev supports manipulation of the VGA text mode
1671 setting in the kernel image.
1673 All kernel per-image options but LITERAL can also be set in the global
1674 options section as defaults for all kernels.
1676 If one of RAMDISK, READ-ONLY, READ-WRITE, ROOT, or VGA is omitted in the
1677 configuration file and the corresponding value in the kernel image is
1678 changed, LILO or the kernel will use the new value.
1680 It is perfectly valid to use different settings for the same image, because
1681 LILO stores them in the image descriptors and not in the images themselves.
1696 LILO can boot the following types of images:
1698 - kernel images from a file.
1699 - kernel images from a block device. (E.g. a floppy disk.)
1700 - the boot sector of some other operating system.
1702 The image type is determined by the name of the initial variable of the
1703 configuration section.
1705 The image files can reside on any media that is accessible at boot time.
1706 There's no need to put them on the root device, although this certainly
1710 Booting kernel images from a file
1711 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1713 The image is specified as follows: IMAGE=<name>
1719 See sections "Per-image options for kernels" and "Boot image types" for the
1720 options that can be added in a kernel image section.
1723 Booting kernel images from a device
1724 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1726 The range of sectors that should be mapped has to be specified. Either a
1727 range ( <start>-<end> ) or a start and a distance ( <start>+<number> ) have
1728 to be specified. <start> and <end> are zero-based. If only the start is
1729 specified, only that sector is mapped.
1731 The image is specified as follows: IMAGE=<device_name> Additionally, the
1732 RANGE variable must be set.
1739 All kernel options can also be used when booting the kernel from a device.
1742 Booting a foreign operating system
1743 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1745 LILO can even boot other operating systems, i.e. MS-DOS. To boot an other
1746 operating system, the name of a loader program, the device or file that
1747 contains the boot sector and the device that contains the partition table
1748 have to be specified.
1750 The boot sector is merged with the partition table and stored in the map
1753 Currently, the loaders chain.b and os2_d.b exist. chain.b simply starts the
1754 specified boot sector.* os2_d.b it a variant of chain.b that can boot OS/2
1755 from the second hard disk. The MAP-DRIVE option has to be used with os2_d.b
1756 to actually swap the drives.
1758 * The boot sector is loaded by LILO's secondary boot loader before
1759 control is passed to the code of chain.b.
1761 The image is specified as follows: OTHER=<device_name> or OTHER=<file_name>
1763 In addition to the options listen in section "Per-image options for
1764 kernels", the following variables are recognized:
1766 CHANGE Change the partition table according to the rules specified in
1767 this CHANGE section. This option is intended for booting systems which
1768 find their partitions by examining the partition table. See section
1769 "Partition type changes" for details.
1770 LOADER=<chain_loader> Specifies the chain loader that should be used. If
1771 it is omitted, /boot/chain.b is used.
1772 MAP-DRIVE=<bios_device_code> Instructs chain.b to installs a resident
1773 driver that re-maps the floppy or hard disk drives. This way, one can
1774 boot any operating system from a hard disk different from the first
1775 one, as long as that operating system uses _only_ the BIOS to access
1776 that hard disk.* This is known to work for PC/MS-DOS.
1778 * So you should be very suspicious if the operating system requires
1779 any specific configuration or even drivers to use the disk it is
1780 booted from. Since there is a general trend to use optimized
1781 drivers to fully exploit the hardware capabilities (e.g.
1782 non-blocking disk access), booting systems from the second disk may
1783 become increasingly difficult.
1785 MAP-DRIVE is followed by the variable TO=<bios_device_code> which
1786 specifies the drive that should effectively be accessed instead of the
1787 original one. The list of mappings is only searched until the first
1788 match is found. It is therefore possible to "swap" drives, see the
1789 second example below.
1790 TABLE=<device> Specifies the device that contains the partition table.
1791 LILO does not pass partition information to the booted operating system
1792 if this variable is omitted. (Some operating systems have other means
1793 to determine from which partition they have been booted. E.g. MS-DOS
1794 usually stores the geometry of the boot disk or partition in its boot
1795 sector.) Note that /sbin/lilo must be re-run if a partition table
1796 mapped referenced with TABLE is modified.
1797 UNSAFE Do not access the boot sector at map creation time. This disables
1798 some sanity checks, including a partition table check. If the boot
1799 sector is on a fixed-format floppy disk device, using UNSAFE avoids the
1800 need to put a readable disk into the drive when running the map
1801 installer. UNSAFE and TABLE are mutually incompatible.
1803 None of these options can be set in the global options section.
1813 loader = /boot/os2_d.b
1823 For floppies and most hard disks, LILO can obtain the disk geometry
1824 information from the kernel. Unfortunately, there are some exotic disks or
1825 adapters which may either not supply this information or which may even
1826 return incorrect information.
1828 If no geometry information is available, LILO reports either the error
1829 geo_query_dev HDIO_GETGEO (dev 0x<number>)
1831 Device 0x<number>: Got bad geometry <sec>/<hd>/<cyl>
1833 If incorrect information is returned, booting may fail in several ways,
1834 typically with a partial "LILO" banner message. In this document, that is
1835 called a "geometry mismatch".
1837 The next step should be to attempt setting the LBA32 or LINEAR
1838 configuration variable or the -L or -l command-line option. If this
1839 doesn't help, the entire disk geometry has to be specified explicitly. Note
1840 that LINEAR doesn't always work with floppy disks.
1842 Another common use of disk sections is if an (E)IDE and a SCSI drive are
1843 used in the same system and the BIOS is configured to use the SCSI drive as
1844 the first drive. (Normally, the (E)IDE drive would be the first drive and
1845 the SCSI drive would be the second one.) Since LILO doesn't know how the
1846 BIOS is configured, it needs to be told explicitly about this arrangement.
1847 (See the second example below.)
1850 Obtaining the geometry
1851 - - - - - - - - - - -
1853 The disk geometry parameters can be obtained by booting MS-DOS and running
1854 the program DPARAM.COM with the hexadecimal BIOS code of the drive as its
1855 argument, e.g. dparam 0x80 for the first hard disk. It displays the number
1856 of sectors per track, the number of heads per cylinder and the number of
1857 cylinders. All three numbers are one-based.
1859 Alternatively, the geometry may also be determined by reading the
1860 information presented by the "setup" section of the ROM-BIOS or by using
1861 certain disk utilities under operating systems accessing the disk through
1865 Specifying the geometry
1866 - - - - - - - - - - - -
1868 Disk geometry parameters are specified in the options section of the
1869 configuration file. Each disk parameter section begins with
1870 DISK=<disk_device>, similar to the way how boot images are specified. It is
1871 suggested to group disk parameter sections together, preferably at the
1872 beginning or the end of the options section.
1874 For each disk, the following variables can be specified:
1876 BIOS=<bios_device_code> Is the number the BIOS uses to refer to that
1877 device. Normally, it's 0x80 for the first hard disk and 0x81 for
1878 the second hard disk. Note that hexadecimal numbers have to begin with
1879 "0x". If BIOS is omitted, LILO tries to "guess" that number.
1880 SECTORS=<sectors> and
1881 HEADS=<heads> specify the number of sectors per track and the number of
1882 heads, i.e. the number of tracks per cylinder. Both parameters have to
1883 be either specified together or they have to be entirely omitted. If
1884 omitted, LILO tries to obtain that geometry information from the
1886 CYLINDERS=<cylinders> Specifies the number of cylinders. This value is
1887 only used for sanity checks. If CYLINDERS is omitted, LILO uses the
1888 information obtained from the kernel if geometry information had to be
1889 requested in order to determine some other parameter. Otherwise,* it
1890 just assumes the number of cylinders to be 1024, which is the cylinder
1891 limit imposed by the BIOS.
1892 INACCESSIBLE Marks the device as inaccessible (for the BIOS). This is
1893 useful if some disks on the system can't be read by the BIOS, although
1894 LILO "thinks" they can. If one accidentally tries to use files located
1895 on such disks for booting, the map installer won't notice and the
1896 system becomes unbootable. The most likely use of INACCESSIBLE is to
1897 prevent repetition after experiencing such a situation once. No other
1898 variables may be specified if a device is configured as INACCESSIBLE.
1900 * I.e. if the BIOS device code, the number of sectors, the number of
1901 heads and the partition start are specified. Note that the number of
1902 cylinders may appear to vary if CYLINDERS is absent and only some of
1903 the partition starts are specified.
1905 Additionally, partition subsections can be added with
1906 PARTITION=<partition_device>. Each partition section can contain only one
1909 START=<partition_offset> Specifies the zero-based number of the start
1910 sector of that partition. The whole disk always has a partition offset
1911 of zero. The partition offset is only necessary when using devices for
1912 which the kernel does not provide that information, e.g. CD-ROMs.
1921 partition = /dev/sda1
1923 partition = /dev/sda2
1925 partition = /dev/sda3
1927 partition = /dev/sda4
1936 Partition table manipulation
1937 ----------------------------
1939 Some non-Linux operating systems obtain information about their partitions
1940 (e.g. their equivalent of the root file system) from the partition table.
1941 If more than one such operating system is installed on a PC, they may have
1942 conflicting interpretations of the content of the partition table. Those
1943 problems can be avoided by changing the partition table, depending on which
1944 operating system is being booted.
1946 Partition table changes are specified in a CHANGE section in the
1947 configuration file section describing the foreign operating system. Note
1948 that CHANGE sections are only accepted if the build-time option
1949 REWRITE_TABLE is set.
1951 The CHANGE section contains subsections for each partition whose table
1952 entry needs to be modified. Partitions are specified with
1953 PARTITION=<device_name>
1955 Changes are applied in the sequence in which they appear in the
1956 configuration file. Configurations containing changes that are redundant
1957 either by repeating a previous change or by changing its result further are
1958 invalid and refused by the map installer.
1960 Internally, all changes are expressed as rules which specify the location
1961 (disk and offset in the partition table), the value this location must
1962 contain before the change, and the value that has to be stored. As a safety
1963 measure, the rule is ignored if the previous value is found to be
1967 Partition activation
1970 This option is intended for booting systems which determine their boot
1971 partition by examining the active flag in the partition table. The flag is
1972 enabled with ACTIVATE and disabled with DEACTIVATE. Note that only the
1973 current partition is affected. LILO does not automatically change the
1974 active flags of other partitions and it also allows more than one partition
1975 to be active at the same time.
1982 partition = /dev/sda4
1984 partition = /dev/sda3
1988 Partition type change rules
1989 - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1991 Partition type changes are normally a transition between two possible
1992 values, e.g. a typical convention is to set the lowest bit in the upper
1993 nibble of the partition type (i.e. 0x10) in order to "hide", and to clear
1994 it to "unhide" a partition. LILO performs these changes based on a set of
1995 rules. Each rule defines the name of a partition type, its normal value,
1996 and the value when hidden. Those rules are defined in the options section
1997 of the configuration file. The section defining them begins with
2000 The following options and variables can appear in the section:
2002 RESET Removes all previously defined rules. This is needed if a user
2003 doesn't wish to use the pre-defined rules (see below).
2004 TYPE=<name> Adds a rule for the type with the specified name. Type names
2005 are case-insensitive. The values are defined with NORMAL=<byte> and
2006 HIDDEN=<byte>. Values can be specified as decimal or as hexadecimal
2007 numbers with a leading 0x . If only one of the values is present, the
2008 other value is assumed to be the same number, but with the most
2009 significant bit inverted.
2011 LILO pre-defines rules for the three partition types of DOS partitions. The
2012 following example removes the pre-defined rules and creates them again:
2020 normal = 4 # hidden is 0x14
2025 Partition type changes
2026 - - - - - - - - - - -
2028 Partition type changes are specified in the partition section as
2029 SET=<name>_<state>, where <name> is the name of the partition type, and
2030 <state> is its state, i.e. NORMAL or HIDDEN.
2037 partition = /dev/sda2
2038 set = dos16_big_normal
2039 partition = /dev/sda3
2041 set = DOS16_big_normal
2043 Only one SET variable is allowed per partition section. In the rare event
2044 that more than one SET variable is needed, further partition sections can
2048 Keyboard translation
2049 --------------------
2051 The PC keyboard emits so-called scan codes, which are basically key
2052 numbers. The BIOS then translates those scan codes to the character codes
2053 of the characters printed on the key-caps. By default, the BIOS normally
2054 assumes that the keyboard has a US layout. Once an operating system is
2055 loaded, this operating system can use a different mapping.
2057 At boot time, LILO only has access to the basic services provided by the
2058 BIOS and therefore receives the character codes for an US keyboard. It
2059 provides a simple mechanism to re-map the character codes to what is
2060 appropriate for the actual layout.*
2062 * The current mechanism isn't perfect, because it sits on top of the
2063 scan code to character code translation performed by the BIOS. This
2064 means that key combinations that don't produce any useful character on
2065 the US keyboard will be ignored by LILO. The advantage of this approach
2069 Compiling keyboard translation tables
2070 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
2072 LILO obtains layout information from the keyboard translation tables Linux
2073 uses for the text console. They are usually stored in
2074 /usr/lib/kbd/keytables. LILO comes with a program keytab-lilo.pl that reads
2075 those tables and generates a table suitable for use by the map installer.
2076 keytab-lilo.pl invokes the program loadkeys to print the tables in a format
2077 that is easy to parse.*
2079 * On some systems, only root can execute loadkeys. It is then necessary
2080 to run keytab-lilo.pl as root too.
2082 keytab-lilo.pl is used as follows:
2084 keytab-lilo.pl [ -p <old_code>=<new_code> ] ...
2085 [<path>]<default_layout>[.<extension>] ]
2086 [<path>]<kbd_layout>[.<extension>] ]
2088 -p <old_code>=<new_code>
2089 Specifies corrections ("patches") to the mapping obtained from the
2090 translation table files. E.g. if pressing the upper case "A" should
2091 yield an at sign, -p 65=64 would be used. The -p option can be
2092 repeated any number of times. The codes can also be given as
2093 hexadecimal or as octal numbers if they are prefixed with 0x or 0,
2095 <path> The directory in which the file resides. The default path is
2096 /usr/lib/kbd/keytables.
2097 <extension> Usually the trailing .map, which is automatically added if
2098 the file name doesn't contain dots.
2099 <default_layout> Is the layout which specifies the translation by the
2100 BIOS. If none is specified, us is assumed.
2101 <kbd_layout> Is the actual layout of the keyboard.
2103 keytab-lilo.pl writes the resulting translation table as a binary string to
2104 standard output. Such tables can be stored anywhere with any name, but the
2105 suggested naming convention is /boot/<kbd>.ktl ("Keyboard Table for Lilo"),
2106 where <kbd> is the name of the keyboard layout.
2110 keytab-lilo.pl de >/boot/de.ktl
2113 Using keyboard translation tables
2114 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
2116 The keyboard translation table file is specified with the global
2117 configuration option keytable=<table_file> . The complete name of the file
2122 keytable = /boot/de.klt
2125 Installation and updates
2126 ========================
2132 This section describes the installation of LILO. See section "LILO
2133 de-installation" for how to uninstall LILO.
2139 The kernel header files have to be in /usr/include/linux and the kernel
2140 usually has to be configured by running make config before LILO can be
2143 /bin/sh has to be a real Bourne shell. bash is sufficiently compatible, but
2144 some ksh clones may cause problems.
2146 A file named INCOMPAT is included in the distribution. It describes
2147 incompatibilities to older versions of LILO and may also contain further
2148 compatibility notes.
2154 If you want to install LILO on your hard disk and if you don't want to use
2155 all its features, you can use the quick installation script. Read QuickInst
2158 QuickInst can only be used for first-time installations or to entirely
2159 replace an existing installation, _not_ to update or modify an existing
2160 installation of LILO. Be sure you've extracted LILO into a directory that
2161 doesn't contain any files of other LILO installations.
2167 Some of the files contained in lilo-21.tar.gz:
2170 This documentation in plain ASCII format. Some sections containing
2171 complex tables are only included in the LaTeX version in doc/user.tex
2173 List of incompatibilities to previous versions of LILO.
2177 The version number of the respective release.
2179 Quick installation script.
2180 lilo/lilo-<version>.lsm
2181 The LSM ("Linux Software Map") entry of the respective LILO release.
2183 Makefile to generate everything else.
2185 LILO map installer C source and common header files.
2187 LILO boot loader assembler source.
2189 C source of a simple boot partition setter.
2191 Assembler source of a disk parameter dumper.
2193 Shell script used to create the current LILO distribution.
2195 Perl script to generate keyboard translation tables.
2197 Description of how to generate the documentation.
2199 Makefile used to convert the LaTeX source into either DVI output or
2200 the plain ASCII README file.
2202 LaTeX source of LILO's user's guide (this document).
2204 LaTeX source of LILO's technical overview.
2206 Various xfig pictures used in the technical overview.
2207 lilo/doc/fullpage.sty
2208 Style file to save a few square miles of forest.
2210 Shell script that invokes LaTeX repeatedly until all references have
2213 Perl script to convert the LaTeX source of the user's guide to plain
2216 Files created after make in lilo source directory (among others):
2219 LILO (map) installer. make install puts this file into /sbin
2221 MS-DOS executable of the disk parameter dumper (optional).
2224 Normal first-time installation
2225 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
2227 First, you have to install the LILO files:
2229 - extract all files from lilo-<version>.tar.gz in a new directory.*
2230 - configure the Makefile (see section "Build-time configuration")
2231 - run make to compile and assemble all parts.
2232 - run make install to copy all LILO files to the directories where
2233 they're installed. /sbin should now contain the file lilo, /usr/sbin
2234 should contain keytab-lilo.pl and /boot should contain some image
2237 * E.g. /usr/src/lilo
2239 If you want to use LILO on a non-standard disk, you might have to determine
2240 the parameters of your disk(s) and specify them in the configuration file.
2241 See section "Disk geometry" for details. If you're using such a
2242 non-standard system, the next step is to test LILO with the boot sector on
2245 - insert a blank (but low-level formatted) floppy disk into /dev/fd0.
2246 - run echo image=<kernel_image> |
2247 /sbin/lilo -C - -b /dev/fd0 -v -v -v
2248 If you've already installed LILO on your system, you might not want to
2249 overwrite your old map file. Use the -m option to specify an
2250 alternate map file name.
2251 - reboot. LILO should now load its boot loaders from the floppy disk and
2252 then continue loading the kernel from the hard disk.
2254 Now, you have to decide, which boot concept you want to use. Let's assume
2255 you have a Linux partition on /dev/hda2 and you want to install your LILO
2256 boot sector there. The DOS-MBR loads the LILO boot sector.
2258 - get a working boot disk, e.g. an install or recovery disk. Verify that
2259 you can boot with this setup and that you can mount your Linux
2260 partition(s) with it.
2261 - if the boot sector you want to overwrite with LILO is of any value
2262 (e.g. it's the MBR or if it contains a boot loader you might want to
2263 use if you encounter problems with LILO), you should mount your boot
2264 disk and make a backup copy of your boot sector to a file on that
2265 floppy, e.g. dd if=/dev/hda of=/fd/boot_sector bs=512 count=1
2266 - create the configuration file /etc/lilo.conf, e.g.
2268 <image specification>
2271 Be sure to use absolute paths for all files. Relative paths may cause
2272 unexpected behaviour when using the -r option.
2273 - now, you can check what LILO would do if you were about to install it
2275 /sbin/lilo -v -v -v -t
2276 - if you need some additional boot utility (i.e. BOOTACTV), you should
2278 - run /sbin/lilo to install LILO on your hard disk
2279 - if you have to change the active partition, use fdisk or activate to do
2284 Build-time configuration
2285 - - - - - - - - - - - -
2287 Certain build-time parameters can be configured. They can either be edited
2288 in the top-level Makefile or they can be stored in a file
2289 /etc/lilo.defines. Settings in the Makefile are ignored if that file
2292 The following items can be configured:
2294 BEEP Enables beeping after displaying "LILO". This is useful on
2295 machines which don't beep at the right time when booting and when
2296 working over a serial console. This option is disabled by default.
2297 IGNORECASE Makes image name matching case-insensitive, i.e. "linux"
2298 and "Linux" are identical. This option is enabled by default. Note that
2299 password matching is always case-sensitive.
2300 LARGE_EDBA Loads LILO at a lower address in order to leave more space
2301 for the EBDA (Extended BIOS Data Area). This is necessary on some
2302 recent MP systems. Note that enabling LARGE_EDBA reduces the maximum
2303 size of "small" images (e.g. "Image" or "zImage").
2304 NO1STDIAG Do not generate diagnostics on read errors in the first
2305 stage boot loader. This avoids possibly irritating error codes if the
2306 disk controller has transient read problems. This option is disabled by
2308 NODRAIN The boot loader empties the keyboard buffer when starting,
2309 because it may contain garbage on some systems. Draining the keyboard
2310 buffer can be disabled by setting the NODRAIN option. NODRAIN is
2311 disabled by default.
2312 NOINSTDEF If the option INSTALL is omitted, don't install a new boot
2313 sector, but try to modify the old boot sector instead. This option is
2314 disabled by default.
2315 ONE_SHOT Disables the command-line timeout (configuration variable
2316 TIMEOUT) if any key is pressed. This way, very short timeouts can be
2317 used if PROMPT is set. ONE_SHOT is disabled by default.
2318 READONLY Disallows overwriting the default command line sector of the
2319 map file. This way, command lines set with -R stay in effect until
2320 they are explicitly removed. READONLY also disables LOCK, FALLBACK,
2321 and everything enabled by REWRITE_TABLE . This option is disabled by
2323 REWRITE_TABLE Enables rewriting the partition table at boot time. This
2324 may be necessary to boot certain operating systems who expect the
2325 active flag to be set on their partition or who need changes in
2326 partition types. See also section "Partition table manipulation". This
2327 option is _dangerous_ and it is disabled by default.
2328 USE_TMPDIR Use the directory indicated in the TMPDIR environment
2329 variable when creating temporary device files. If TMPDIR is not set
2330 or if LILO is compiled without USE_TMPDIR , temporary device files are
2331 created in /tmp.* This option is disabled by default.
2332 VARSETUP Enables the use of variable-size setup segments. This option
2333 is enabled by default and is only provided to fall back to fixed-size
2334 setup segments in the unlikely case of problems when using prehistoric
2336 XL_SECS=<sectors> Enable support for extra large (non-standard) floppy
2337 disks. The number of sectors is set in the BIOS disk parameter table to
2338 the specified value. Note that this hack may yield incorrect behaviour
2339 on some systems. This option is disabled by default.
2341 * Note that, while honoring TMPDIR is the "right" thing to do, the
2342 fact that LILO has to create temporary device files at all may indicate
2343 that the operating environment is not completely set up, so TMPDIR
2344 may point to an invalid location.
2346 /etc/lilo.defines should be used if one wishes to make permanent
2347 configuration changes. The usual installation procedures don't touch that
2350 -DIGNORECASE -DONE_SHOT
2352 After changing the build-time configuration, LILO has to be recompiled with
2353 the following commands:
2359 Floppy disk installation
2360 - - - - - - - - - - - -
2362 In some cases*, it may be desirable to install LILO on a floppy disk in a
2363 way that it can boot a kernel without accessing the hard disk.
2365 * E.g. if no hard disk is accessible through the BIOS.
2367 The basic procedure is quite straightforward (see also section "BIOS
2370 - a file system has to be created on the file system
2371 - the kernel has to be copied to the floppy disk
2372 - /sbin/lilo has to be run to create the map file
2374 This can be as easy as
2376 /sbin/mke2fs /dev/fd0
2377 [ -d /fd ] || mkdir /fd
2380 echo image=/fd/zImage label=linux |
2381 /sbin/lilo -C - -b /dev/fd0 -c -m /fd/map
2384 The command line of /sbin/lilo is a little tricky. -C - takes the
2385 configuration from standard input (naturally, one could also write the
2386 configuration into a file), -b /dev/fd0 specifies that the boot sector
2387 is written to the floppy disk, -c speeds up the load process and -m
2388 /fd/map puts the map file on the floppy too.
2394 LILO is affected by updates of kernels, the whole system and (trivially) of
2395 LILO itself. Typically, only /sbin/lilo has to be run after any of those
2396 updates and everything will be well again (at least as far as LILO is
2403 Before updating to a new version of LILO, you should read at least the file
2404 INCOMPAT which describes incompatibilities with previous releases.
2406 After that, the initial steps are the same as for a first time
2407 installation: extract all files, configure the Makefile, run make to
2408 build the executables and run make install to install the files.
2410 The old versions of boot.b, chain.b, etc. are automatically renamed to
2411 boot.old, chain.old, etc. This is done to ensure that you can boot even if
2412 the installation procedure does not finish. boot.old, chain.old, etc. can
2413 be deleted after the map file is rebuilt.
2415 Because the locations of boot.b, chain.b, etc. have changed and because the
2416 map file format may be different too, you have to update the boot sector
2417 and the map file. Run /sbin/lilo to do this.
2423 Whenever any of the kernel files that are accessed by LILO is moved or
2424 overwritten, the map has to be re-built.* Run /sbin/lilo to do this.
2426 * It is advisable to keep a second, stable, kernel image that can be
2427 booted if you forget to update the map after a change to your usual
2430 The kernel has a make target "zlilo" that copies the kernel to /vmlinuz and
2437 Normally, system upgrades (i.e. installation or removal of packages,
2438 possibly replacement of a large part of the installed binaries) do not
2439 affect LILO. Of course, if a new kernel is installed in the process, the
2440 normal kernel update procedure has to be followed (see section "Kernel
2441 update"). Also, if kernels are removed or added, it may be necessary to
2442 update the configuration file.
2444 If LILO is updated by this system upgrade, /sbin/lilo should be run before
2445 booting the upgraded system. It is generally a good idea not to rely on the
2446 upgrade procedure to perform this essential step automatically.
2448 However, system upgrades which involve removal and re-creation of entire
2449 partitions (e.g. /, /usr, etc.) are different. First, they should be
2450 avoided, because they bear a high risk of losing other critical files, e.g.
2451 the /etc/XF86Config you've spent the last week fiddling with. If an upgrade
2452 really has to be performed in such a brute-force way, this is equal with
2453 total removal of LILO, followed by a new installation. Therefore, the
2454 procedures described in the sections "LILO de-installation" and "LILO
2455 update" have to be performed. If you've forgotten to make a backup copy of
2456 /etc/lilo.conf before the destructive upgrade, you might also have to go
2457 through section "Normal first-time installation" again.
2460 LILO de-installation
2461 --------------------
2463 In order to stop LILO from being invoked when the system boots, its boot
2464 sector has to be either removed or disabled. All other files belonging to
2465 LILO can be deleted _after_ removing the boot sector, if desired.*
2467 * Backup copies of old boot sectors may be needed when removing the boot
2468 sector. They are stored in /boot.
2470 Again, _when removing Linux, LILO must be de-installed before (!) its files
2471 (/boot, etc.) are deleted._ This is especially important if LILO is
2472 operating as the MBR.
2474 LILO 14 (and newer) can be de-installed with lilo -u. If LILO 14 or newer
2475 is currently installed, but the first version of LILO installed was older
2476 than 14, lilo -U may work. When using -U, the warning at the end of this
2479 If LILO's boot sector has been installed on a primary partition and is
2480 booted by the "standard" MBR or some partition switcher program, it can be
2481 disabled by making a different partition active. MS-DOS' FDISK, Linux fdisk
2482 or LILO's activate can do that.
2484 If LILO's boot sector is the master boot record (MBR) of a disk, it has to
2485 be replaced with a different MBR, typically MS-DOS' "standard" MBR. When
2486 using MS-DOS 5.0 or above, the MS-DOS MBR can be restored with FDISK /MBR.
2487 This only alters the boot loader code, not the partition table.
2489 LILO automatically makes backup copies when it overwrites boot sectors.
2490 They are named /boot/boot.<nnnn>, with <nnnn> corresponding to the device
2491 number, e.g. 0300 is /dev/hda, 0800 is /dev/sda, etc. Those backups can
2492 be used to restore the old MBR if no easier method is available. The
2494 dd if=/boot/boot.0300 of=/dev/hda bs=446 count=1 or
2495 dd if=/boot/boot.0800 of=/dev/sda bs=446 count=1
2498 _WARNING:_ Some Linux distributions install boot.<nnnn> files from the
2499 system where the distribution was created. Using those files may yield
2500 unpredictable results. Therefore, the file creation date should be
2504 Installation of other operating systems
2505 ---------------------------------------
2507 Some other operating systems (e.g. MS-DOS 6.0) appear to modify the MBR in
2508 their install procedures. It is therefore possible that LILO will stop to
2509 work after such an installation and Linux has to be booted from floppy
2510 disk. The original state can be restored by either re-running /sbin/lilo
2511 (if LILO is installed as the MBR) or by making LILO's partition active (if
2512 it's installed on a primary partition).
2514 It is generally a good idea to install LILO after the other operating
2515 systems have been installed. E.g. OS/2 is said to cause trouble when
2516 attempting to add it to an existing Linux system. (However, booting from
2517 floppy and running /sbin/lilo should get around most interferences.)
2519 Typically, the new operating system then has to be added to LILO's
2520 configuration (and /sbin/lilo has to be re-run) in order to boot it.
2522 See also section "Other problems" for a list of known problems with some
2523 other operating systems.
2529 All parts of LILO display some messages that can be used to diagnose
2533 Map installer warnings and errors
2534 ---------------------------------
2536 Most messages of the map installer (/sbin/lilo) should be self-explanatory.
2537 Some messages that indicate common errors are listed below. They are
2538 grouped into fatal errors and warnings (non-fatal errors).
2544 Boot sector of <device_name> doesn't have a boot signature
2545 Boot sector of <device_name> doesn't have a LILO signature
2546 The sector from which LILO should be uninstalled doesn't appear to be
2548 Can't put the boot sector on logical partition <number>
2549 An attempt has been made to put LILO's boot sector on the current root
2550 file system partition which is on a logical partition. This usually
2551 doesn't have the desired effect, because common MBRs can only boot
2552 primary partitions. This check can be bypassed by explicitly specifying
2553 the boot partition with the -b option or by setting the configuration
2556 The descriptor table of the map file has an invalid checksum. Refresh
2557 the map file _immediately_ !
2558 Device 0x<number>: Configured as inaccessible.
2559 There is a DISK section entry indicating that the device is
2560 inaccessible from the BIOS. You should check carefully that all files
2561 LILO tries to access when booting are on the right device.
2562 Device 0x<number>: Got bad geometry <sec>/<hd>/<cyl>
2563 The device driver for your SCSI controller does not support geometry
2564 detection. You have to specify the geometry explicitly (see section
2566 Device 0x<number>: Invalid partition table, entry <number>
2567 The 3D and linear addresses of the first sector of the specified
2568 partition don't correspond. This is typically caused by partitioning a
2569 disk with a program that doesn't align partitions to tracks and later
2570 using PC/MS-DOS or OS/2 on that disk. LILO can attempt to correct the
2571 problem, see "General per-image options".
2572 Device 0x<number>: Partition type 0x<number> does not seem suitable for
2574 The location where the LILO boot sector should be placed does not seem
2575 to be suitable for that. (See also also section "Disk organization").
2576 You should either adjust the partition type to reflect the actual use
2577 or put the boot sector on a different partition. This consistency check
2578 only yields a warning (i.e. LILO continues) if the option IGNORE-TABLE
2580 <device_name> is not a valid partition device
2581 The specified device is either not a device at all, a whole disk, or a
2582 partition on a different disk than the one in whose section its entry
2584 <device_name> is not a whole disk device
2585 Only the geometry of whole disks (e.g. /dev/hda, /dev/sdb, etc.) can
2586 be redefined when using DISK sections.
2587 DISKTAB and DISK are mutually exclusive
2588 You cannot use a disktab file and disk geometry definitions in the
2589 configuration file at the same time. Maybe /etc/disktab was
2590 accidentally used, because that's the default for
2591 backward-compatibility. You should delete /etc/disktab after completing
2592 the transition to DISK sections.
2593 Duplicate entry in partition table
2594 A partition table entry appears twice. The partition table has to be
2596 Duplicate geometry definition for <device_name>
2597 A disk or partition geometry definition entry for the same device
2598 appears twice in the configuration file. Note that you mustn't write a
2599 partition section for the whole disk - its start sector is always the
2600 first sector of the disk.
2601 First sector of <device> doesn't have a valid boot signature
2602 The first sector of the specified device does not appear to be a valid
2603 boot sector. You might have confused the device name.*
2604 geo_comp_addr: Cylinder <number> beyond end of media (<number>)
2605 A file block appears to be located beyond the last cylinder of the
2606 disk. This probably indicates an error in the disk geometry
2607 specification (see section "Disk geometry") or a file system
2609 geo_comp_addr: Cylinder number is too big (<number> > 1023)
2610 Blocks of a file are located beyond the 1024th cylinder of a hard
2611 disk. LILO can't access such files, because the BIOS limits cylinder
2612 numbers to the range 0...1023. Try moving the file to a different
2613 place, preferably a partition that is entirely within the first 1024
2614 cylinders of the disk.
2615 Hole found in map file (<location>)
2616 The map installer is confused about the disk organization. Please
2618 <item> doesn't have a valid LILO signature
2619 The specified item has been located, but is not part of LILO.
2620 <item> has an invalid stage code (<number>)
2621 The specified item has probably been corrupted. Try re-building LILO.
2622 <item> is version <number>. Expecting version <number>.
2623 The specified entity is either too old or too new. Make sure all parts
2624 of LILO (map installer, boot loaders and chain loaders) are from the
2625 same distribution. **
2626 Kernel <name> is too big
2627 The kernel image (without the setup code) is bigger than 512 kbytes
2628 (or 448 kbytes, if built with LARGE_EDBA ). LILO would overwrite
2629 itself when trying to load such a kernel. This limitation only applies
2630 to old kernels which are loaded below 0x10000 (e.g. "Image" or
2631 "zImage"). Try building the kernel with "bzImage". If this is
2632 undesirable for some reason, try removing some unused drivers and
2633 compiling the kernel again. This error may also occur if the kernel
2634 image is damaged or if it contains trailing "junk", e.g. as the result
2635 of copying an entire boot floppy to the hard disk.
2636 LOCK and FALLBACK are mutually exclusive
2637 Since LOCK and FALLBACK both change the default command line, they
2638 can't be reasonably used together.
2639 Map <path> is not a regular file.
2640 This is probably the result of an attempt to omit writing a map file,
2641 e.g. with -m /dev/null . The -t option should be used to accomplish
2643 Must specify SECTORS and HEADS together
2644 It is assumed that disks with a "strange" number of sectors will also
2645 have a "strange" number of heads. Therefore, it's all or nothing.
2646 No geometry variables allowed if INACCESSIBLE
2647 If a device is configured as INACCESSIBLE (see section "Specifying the
2648 geometry"), its DISK section must not contain any geometry variables.
2649 No image <image> is defined
2650 The command line specified either with the -R option or with
2651 FALLBACK does not contain the name of a valid image. Note that optional
2652 images which have not been included in the map file are not considered
2654 Partition entry not found
2655 The partition from which an other operating system should be booted
2656 isn't listed in the specified partition table. This either means that
2657 an incorrect partition table has been specified or that you're trying
2658 to boot from a logical partition. The latter usually doesn't work. You
2659 can bypass this check by omitting the partition table specification
2660 (e.g. omitting the variable TABLE).
2661 Single-key clash: "<name>" vs. "<name>"
2662 The specified image labels or aliases conflict because one of them is
2663 a single character and has the SINGLE-KEY option set, and the other
2664 name begins with that character.
2665 Sorry, don't know how to handle device <number>
2666 LILO uses files that are located on a device for which there is no
2667 easy way to determine the disk geometry. Such devices have to be
2668 explicitly described, see section "Disk geometry".
2669 This LILO is compiled READONLY and doesn't support ...
2670 If LILO is not allowed to write to the disk at boot time (see section
2671 "Build-time configuration"), options like LOCK and FALLBACK are
2673 This LILO is compiled without REWRITE_TABLE and doesn't support ...
2674 If LILO is not allowed to rewrite partition tables at boot time (see
2675 section "Partition table manipulation"), options like ACTIVATE and SET
2676 (in a CHANGE section) are unavailable. You may also get this error if
2677 LILO is compiled with READONLY enabled.
2678 Timestamp in boot sector of <device> differs from date of <file>
2679 The backup copy of the boot sector does not appear to be an ancestor
2680 of the current boot sector. If you are absolutely sure that the boot
2681 sector is indeed correct, you can bypass this check by using -U
2683 Trying to map files from unnamed device 0x<number> (NFS ?)
2684 This is probably the same problem as described below, only with the
2685 root file system residing on NFS.
2686 Trying to map files from your RAM disk. Please check -r option or ROOT
2687 environment variable.
2688 Most likely, you or some installation script is trying to invoke LILO
2689 in a way that some of the files is has to access reside on the RAM
2690 disk. Normally, the ROOT environment variable should be set to the
2691 mount point of the effective root device if installing LILO with a
2692 different root directory. See also sections "Create or update map" and
2693 "Normal first-time installation".
2694 VGA mode presetting is not supported by your kernel.
2695 Your kernel sources appear to be very old ('93 ?). LILO may work on
2696 your system if you remove the VGA option.
2697 write <item>: <error_reason>
2698 The disk is probably full or mounted read-only.
2700 * Because different partition programs may display the partitions in a
2701 different order, it is possible that what you think is your first
2702 partition isn't /dev/hda1, etc. A good method to verify the content of
2703 a partition is to try to mount it.
2705 ** The expected version number may be different from the version number
2706 of the LILO package, because file version numbers are only increased
2707 when the file formats change.
2713 Messages labeled with "Warning" can be turned off with the NOWARN option.
2715 FIGETBSZ <file_name>: < error_reason>
2716 The map installer is unable to determine the block size of a file
2717 system. It assumes a block size of two sectors (1kB).
2718 Ignoring entry '<variable_name>'
2719 The command-line option corresponding to the specified variable is
2720 set. Therefore, the configuration file entry is ignored.
2721 Setting DELAY to 20 (2 seconds)
2722 Because accidentally booting the wrong kernel or operating system may
2723 be very inconvenient on systems that are not run from a local display,
2724 the minimum delay is two seconds if the SERIAL variable is set.
2725 (temp) <item>: <error_reason>
2726 Deleting a temporary file has failed for the specified reason.
2727 Warning: BIOS drive 0x<number> may not be accessible
2728 Because most BIOS versions only support two floppies and two hard
2729 disks, files located on additional disks may be inaccessible. This
2730 warning indicates that some kernels or even the whole system may be
2732 Warning: COMPACT may conflict with LINEAR on some systems
2733 Please see section "Other problems" for a description of this problem.
2734 Warning: <config_file> should be owned by root
2735 In order to prevent users from compromising system integrity, the
2736 configuration file should be owned by root and write access for all
2737 other users should be disabled.
2738 Warning: <config_file> should be readable only for root if using
2740 Users should not be allowed to read the configuration file when using
2741 the PASSWORD option, because then, it contains unencrypted passwords.
2742 Warning: <config_file> should be writable only for root
2743 See " Warning: <config_file> should be owned by root ".
2744 Warning: device 0x<number> exceeds 1024 cylinder limit
2745 A disk or partition exceeds the 1024 cylinder limit imposed by the
2746 BIOS. This may result in a fatal error in the current installation run
2747 or in later installation runs. See " geo_comp_addr: Cylinder number is
2748 too big (<number> > 1023) " for details.
2749 Warning: <device> is not on the first disk
2750 The specified partition is probably not on the first disk. LILO's boot
2751 sector can only be booted from the first disk unless some special boot
2753 WARNING: The system is unbootable !
2754 One of the last installation steps has failed. This warning is
2755 typically followed by a fatal error describing the problem.
2758 Boot loader messages
2759 --------------------
2761 The boot loader generates three types of messages: progress and error
2762 messages while it is loading, messages indicating disk access errors, and
2763 error messages in response to invalid command-line input. Since messages of
2764 the latter type are usually self-explanatory, only the two other categories
2771 When LILO loads itself, it displays the word "LILO". Each letter is printed
2772 before or after performing some specific action. If LILO fails at some
2773 point, the letters printed so far can be used to identify the problem. This
2774 is described in more detail in the technical overview.
2776 Note that some hex digits may be inserted after the first "L" if a
2777 transient disk problem occurs. Unless LILO stops at that point, generating
2778 an endless stream of error codes, such hex digits do not indicate a severe
2781 (<nothing>) No part of LILO has been loaded. LILO either isn't installed
2782 or the partition on which its boot sector is located isn't active.
2783 L <error> ... The first stage boot loader has been loaded and started,
2784 but it can't load the second stage boot loader. The two-digit error
2785 codes indicate the type of problem. (See also section "Disk error
2786 codes".) This condition usually indicates a media failure or a geometry
2787 mismatch (e.g. bad disk parameters, see section "Disk geometry").
2788 LI The first stage boot loader was able to load the second stage boot
2789 loader, but has failed to execute it. This can either be caused by a
2790 geometry mismatch or by moving /boot/boot.b without running the map
2792 LIL The second stage boot loader has been started, but it can't load
2793 the descriptor table from the map file. This is typically caused by a
2794 media failure or by a geometry mismatch.
2795 LIL? The second stage boot loader has been loaded at an incorrect
2796 address. This is typically caused by a subtle geometry mismatch or by
2797 moving /boot/boot.b without running the map installer.
2798 LIL- The descriptor table is corrupt. This can either be caused by a
2799 geometry mismatch or by moving /boot/map without running the map
2801 LILO All parts of LILO have been successfully loaded.
2807 If the BIOS signals an error when LILO is trying to load a boot image, the
2808 respective error code is displayed. The following BIOS error codes are
2811 0x00 "Internal error". This code is generated by the sector read
2812 routine of the LILO boot loader whenever an internal inconsistency is
2813 detected. This might be caused by corrupt files. Try re-building the
2814 map file. Another possible cause for this error are attempts to access
2815 cylinders beyond 1024 while using the LINEAR option. See section "BIOS
2816 restrictions" for more details and for how to solve the problem.
2817 0x01 "Illegal command". This shouldn't happen, but if it does, it may
2818 indicate an attempt to access a disk which is not supported by the
2819 BIOS. See also "Warning: BIOS drive 0x<number> may not be accessible"
2820 in section "Warnings".
2821 0x02 "Address mark not found". This usually indicates a media problem.
2822 Try again several times.
2823 0x03 "Write-protected disk". This should only occur on write
2825 0x04 "Sector not found". This typically indicates a geometry mismatch.
2826 If you're booting a raw-written disk image, verify whether it was
2827 created for disks with the same geometry as the one you're using. If
2828 you're booting from a SCSI disk or a large IDE disk, you should check,
2829 whether LILO has obtained correct geometry data from the kernel or
2830 whether the geometry definition corresponds to the real disk geometry.
2831 (See section "Disk geometry".) Removing COMPACT may help too. So may
2832 adding LBA32 or LINEAR.
2833 0x06 "Change line active". This should be a transient error. Try
2834 booting a second time.
2835 0x07 "Invalid initialization". The BIOS failed to properly initialize
2836 the disk controller. You should control the BIOS setup parameters. A
2837 warm boot might help too.
2838 0x08 "DMA overrun". This shouldn't happen. Try booting again.
2839 0x09 "DMA attempt across 64k boundary". This shouldn't happen, but may
2840 inicate a disk geometry mis-match. Try omitting the COMPACT option. You
2841 may need to specify the disk geometry yourself.
2842 0x0C "Invalid media". This shouldn't happen and might be caused by a
2843 media error. Try booting again.
2844 0x10 "CRC error". A media error has been detected. Try booting several
2845 times, running the map installer a second time (to put the map file at
2846 some other physical location or to write "good data" over the bad
2847 spot), mapping out the bad sectors/tracks and, if all else fails,
2848 replacing the media.
2849 0x11 "ECC correction successful". A read error occurred, but was
2850 corrected. LILO does not recognize this condition and aborts the load
2851 process anyway. A second load attempt should succeed.
2852 0x20 "Controller error". This shouldn't happen.
2853 0x40 "Seek failure". This might be a media problem. Try booting again.
2854 0x80 "Disk timeout". The disk or the drive isn't ready. Either the
2855 media is bad or the disk isn't spinning. If you're booting from a
2856 floppy, you might not have closed the drive door. Otherwise, trying to
2857 boot again might help.
2858 0xBB "BIOS error". This shouldn't happen. Try booting again. If the
2859 problem persists, removing the COMPACT option or adding/removing LINEAR
2860 or LBA32 might help.
2862 If the error occurred during a write operation, the error code (two hex
2863 digits) is prefixed with a "W". Although write errors don't affect the boot
2864 process, they might indicate a severe problem, because they usually imply
2865 that LILO has tried to write to an invalid location. If spurious write
2866 errors occur on a system, it might be a good idea to configure LILO to run
2867 read-only (see section "Build-time configuration").
2869 Generally, invalid geometry and attempts to use more than two disks without
2870 a very modern BIOS may yield misleading error codes. Please check carefully
2871 if /sbin/lilo doesn't emit any warnings. Then try using the LINEAR or LBA32
2872 option (see section "Global options").
2878 This section contains a collection of less common problems that have been
2879 observed. See also section "Installation of other operating systems" for
2880 general remarks on using LILO with other operating systems. Some of the
2881 problems are obscure and so are the work-arounds.
2883 - If LILO doesn't go away even if you erase its files, format your Linux
2884 partition, etc., you've probably installed LILO as your MBR and you've
2885 forgotten to deinstall it before deleting its files. See section "LILO
2886 de-installation" for what you can do now.
2887 - For yet unknown reasons, LILO may fail on some systems with AMI BIOS if
2888 the "Hard Disk Type 47 RAM area" is set to "0:300" instead of "DOS 1K".
2889 - Some disk controller BIOSes perform disk geometry/address translations
2890 that are incompatible with the way the device's geometry is seen from
2891 Linux, i.e. without going through the BIOS. Particularly, large IDE
2892 disks and some PCI SCSI controllers appear to have this problem. In
2893 such cases, either the translated geometry has to be specified in a
2894 DISK section or the sector address translation can be deferred by using
2895 the LINEAR option. In a setup where floppies are not normally used for
2896 booting, the LINEAR approach should be preferred, because this avoids
2897 the risk of specifying incorrect numbers.
2898 - OS/2 is said to be bootable from a logical partition with LILO acting
2899 as the primary boot selector if LILO is installed on the MBR, the OS/2
2900 BootManager is on an active primary partition and LILO boots
2901 BootManager. Putting LILO on an extended partition instead is said to
2902 crash the OS/2 FDISK in this scenario.
2904 Note that booting LILO from BootManager (so BootManager is the primary
2905 selector) or booting OS/2 directly from a primary partition (without
2906 BootManager) should generally work. See also section "Installation of
2907 other operating systems".
2908 - Windows NT is reported to be bootable with LILO when LILO acts as the
2909 MBR and the Windows NT boot loader is on the DOS partition. However,
2910 NT's disk manager complains about LILO's MBR when trying to edit the
2912 - Some PC UNIX systems (SCO and Unixware have been reported to exhibit
2913 this problem) depend on their partition being active. See section
2914 "Partition table manipulation" for how this can be accomplished.
2915 - Future Domain TMC-1680 adapters with the BIOS versions 3.4 and 3.5
2916 assign BIOS device numbers in the wrong order, e.g. on a two-disk
2917 system, /dev/sda becomes 0x81 and /dev/sdb becomes 0x80 . This can
2918 be fixed with the following DISK section:
2919 disk=/dev/sda bios=0x81 disk=/dev/sdb bios=0x80
2920 Note that this is only valid for a two-disk system. In three-disk
2921 systems, /dev/sdc would become 0x80 , etc. Also, single-disk systems
2922 don't have this problem (and the "fix" would break them).
2923 - Some BIOSes don't properly recognize disks with an unusual partition
2924 table (e.g. without any partition marked active) and refuse to boot
2925 from them. This can also affect the second hard disk and the problem
2926 may only occur if the system is booted in a particular way (e.g. only
2928 - On some systems, using LINEAR and COMPACT or LBA32 and COMPACT together
2929 leads to a boot failure. The exact circumstances under which this
2930 happens are still unknown.
projects / rrq / maintain_lilo.git / blob